Rockets decide to renew Amen

On August 13, the NBA officially announced the 2024-25 slam dunk rankings, Antetokounmpo ranked first in 243 times, Gobert ranked second in 225 times, and Jaylen Durham ranked third. The NBA official wrote: Amen Thompson (138) and OG Anunobi (132) became only two non-inside players on the list.

Let me talk about another data: last season, the opponent's shooting percentage was limited, Amen Thompson (40.7%) ranked first in the league; Durant (41.1%) ranked second in the league. Also today, NBA 2K26 announced the top 10 speed ability values in the league: Fox led the league with 97 points, Morant scored second with 95 points, and Amen scored ninth with 90 points.

Yes, there are Amen Thompson on these lists. According to the labor-management agreement, Durant can sign a contract renewal of up to $120 million with the Rockets this summer. The Rockets hope Durant can cut his salary, and the two sides are expected to renew their contracts for 2 years and $100 million. The Rockets' move is to make room and renew Amen Thompson's contract tomorrow summer!

According to the rules, in the 2026 offseason, Amen Thompson can sign a five-year, $264 million contract extension with the Rockets. If he is selected into the All-Squad or won the DPOY in the 2026-27 season, the contract will become $317 million in five years. The Rockets have many operations this summer, also preparing to renew Amen.

This year's offseason, the Rockets renewed Van Jordan for 2 years and $50 million, and their contract expires in the summer of 2027, and Amen Thompson's new contract will be implemented from the 2027-28 season. The Rockets signed Finney Smith for $53 million in four years, and only fully guaranteed in the first two years, and both the 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons were insured.

In addition, the Rockets renewed their contract with Jabbarri Smith Jr. in advance for 5 years. This contract began to be implemented in the 2026-27 season. The first two years were decreasing year by year, and the next three years were increasing year by year. The annual salary in the 2027-28 season was 21.75 million US dollars, which is the lowest value in the contract. The Rockets designed this way to renew Amen in 2027!

This summer, the Rockets renewed their contract with Adams for 39 million US dollars in three years: 14.13 million in the 2025-26 season; 13 million in the 2026-27 season; 11.87 million in the 2027-28 season. If the Rockets don't want to give Amen a maximum salary contract, there is no need to be so complicated. The Rockets indeed regard Amen as the new cornerstone of team building, and they must keep him even if they try their best. In the 2024-25 season, Amen Thompson played 69 regular season games for the Rockets, including 42 starts. He averaged 32.2 minutes per game, scored 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.3 blocks and 2 turnovers, with three shooting percentages: 55.7%, 27.5%, and 68.4%. Stealing, blocking and shooting percentage per game are all in the top 18 in the league.

This is only Amen's second season in the NBA, and he was successfully selected for the All-Defensive Team. In this year's playoffs, Amen averaged 33 minutes per game, scoring 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks and 1.7 turnovers, with three shooting percentages: 49.4%, 25%, 69.4%. The biggest problem is still three-point shooting...

Former NBA player Jeff Teague said: "As long as Amen practices shooting, he can become the top ten players in the league!" Amen was born on January 30, 2003. Do you think he can practice three-point shooting? Can you get a maximum salary of 317 million in five years?