Poll: Brown for Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith, Reed Sheppard

[KG Living Legend]

 This leaves Houston with Sengun, Durant,  Jalen Brown,  Van Fleet core. Very serious title contender.

Boston gets a freak athlete in Amen Thompson who can't shoot, but that might be good for Boston. Jabari Smith Jr who is an excellent shooting big and good defender.  Reed Sheppard also an emerging shooter.

 I would prefer this package to Giannis.

Queta
Jabari Smith
Tatum
Thompson/Sheppard
White/Pritchard

Baylor,  Hugo, Walsh,  Garza,

 If we can make a trey Murphy trade as well we could be very dangerous.

[Who]

I feel like Amen Thompson, Jayson Tatum and Jabari Smith Jr are all at their best at the same position PF. As a result, I am not sure how much I love them together on the same team.

[Who]

Queta
Jabari Smith
Tatum
Thompson/Sheppard
White/Pritchard

Baylor,  Hugo, Walsh,  Garza,

In this trade, I would lineup like this:

G: Pritchard, Reed Sheppard
G: D White, Baylor
F: Amen Thompson, (Tatum)
F: Tatum, Jabari Smith Jr
C: Queta, (free agent)

I would play a 3 man forward rotation of Tatum, Amen, and Jabari. They are all interchangeable with one another.

That would also allow you to get more shooting on the floor. I don't like the idea of Amen & Queta together. Queta is a garbage man. Amen can't make a shot outside of 10 feet consistently. So the spacing will be poor with the two of them on the floor together. I'd like to get extra shooting alongside them.

Jabari is a solid shooter but not a great shooter. Pritchard is far better. Jabari is a non-passer and a limited ball-handler. Pritchard is a quality ball-handler and ball-mover. So that will give the offense more flow. It also creates an opening for Reed Sheppard as a bench guard.

Jabari and Amen would appear to take away most if not all opportunities available for Hugo Gonzalez & Jordan Walsh. They will eat the forward minutes. Neither J Walsh or Hugo are skilled enough to be guards. Baylor would have the upper hand over them on backup SG minutes. If we were to do this trade, we might be best off moving Hugo & J Walsh on to other teams in a separate trade or two. Maybe see if we can get an upgrade in the backcourt.

Not in love with Pritchard & Reed Sheppard on the same team. They duplicate one another. Reed a poor man's Payton Pritchard. Not sure how well they would play together alongside one another. Both small guards. They would make our backcourt very small. It would probably work fine in the regular season but more problematic in the playoffs. Reed's minutes might be limited to 15-20mpg behind Pritchard in that case. Baylor getting 10-15mpg at SG behind D White.

[keevsnick]

Four quarters for a dollar trades almost never work out for the team trading the better player.

[Who]

Jabari Smith Jr who is an excellent shooting big and good defender. 

Two parts - Jabari as a big + Jabari in general

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Part One

I always find the descriptions of Jabari interesting. The description of him as a big ...

Why is Jabari a big and Tatum not a big?

* Tatum has averaged 8-9rpg in the regular season in his previous 4 seasons and 9.7-11.5rpg in the playoffs. Jabari has one season of 8rpg and 3 seasons of just 7rpg. Tatum is a far better rebounder than Jabari.

* Jabari is an above average defensive PF but so is Tatum. If anything, Tatum is better defensively than Jabari. Jabari might be a bit quicker side to side but Tatum is far smarter as a team defender.

* Jabari has two inches on Tatum. Jabari is 6-10. Tatum is 6-8. Similar length. Similar weight / strength. If anything, Tatum is the stronger of the two of them.

* Neither guy has the size to effectively play at center or to be main rim protector / shot blocker. Both are out and out forwards. Jabari a PF/SF. Tatum a combo forward also arguably a PF/SF or a SF/PF depending on which position you think he is best at. Jabari clearly better at PF than SF due to his offensive limitations skills-wise.


I always find that description of Jabari as a big interesting. He can't play center. He gets outmuscled. He gets outmuscled defensively. He gets outmuscled and out-rebounded. Tatum can better battle centers on the boards than Jabari can. Jabari provides little to no rim protection. He has averaged 0.7-0.9bpg in each of his 4 years. He doesn't organize a defense. He just takes care of his own assignment. He is much more comfortable defensively out on the perimeter sliding his feet than banging in the paint. He is a solid but unexceptional team defender. Tatum a better team defender no doubt. Jabari is not a player who can play center. He is more comfortable as a forward. A big forward rather than small forward.

So what makes Jabari as a big and Tatum not a big? He can't rebound as well as Tatum. He doesn't protect the basket better than Tatum. He doesn't physically battle in the paint against bigger bodies any better than Tatum. He is not a better shot blocker than Tatum. He is slightly taller - that's it.

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Part Two

The main reason Jabari struggles at small forward are the limitations in his skill level. He is a non-passer. A limited ball-handler. He struggles to create his own offense one-on-one unless you give an iso in the mid-post where he can make a 1-2 dribble move out of a face up or post up situation. His shooting is average.

More on the shooting. Jabari has shot around 36% on 3s in each of the last 3 seasons. He takes solid volume at 5.5 threes per game in 32mpg over those 3 years. About half his shots are threes.

He rarely to the foul line (2.5 FTA) despite his size & athleticism because he is a basic spot up shooter or a basic line drive attack the rim threat. His handle is too limited to get him in dangerous areas otherwise. He is a basic offensive player. That is enough for him at PF (albeit still below average for a starting PF and only average for a rotation caliber PF [starters + bench PFs]) but not enough for a SF. That is why he needs to play PF.

He doesn't shoot many midrange jump-shots. He doesn't like to shoot off a dribble drive. Either shoot the 3, straight line drive to the rim, or drive, see traffic and move the ball. When he does shoot the midrange, he is more comfortable out of isos from about 14-17 feet.

My point here is that Jabari has a lot of limitations offensively. He is 4 years into his career and shown little progress in most of them. No progress in his jump-shooting. No progress in ball-handling. No progress in his passing. No progress in his shot-creation except for those clear play calls where he gets an iso at 14-17 feet - he has shown progress there. With so many limitations offensively, it is hard to see much upside there. He looks more like a 4th/5th option than a guy who can ever be a main offensive threat for you.

Jabari is not a cerebral offensive player. He doesn't have good feel for the game. Nor does he have the skills. Jabari is an above average defender but not a great defender. He is no Draymond Green. Nor is he anything more than an average rebounder.

Therefore, a solid two-way starting PF. A guy who can play some SF thanks to his athleticism & defensive versatility but not a lot due to his offensive limitations. Nor can he play C. He lacks the size (bulk) to play C and doesn't anchor a defense / protect the rim well enough to play there for long stretches. 

[Who]

Four quarters for a dollar trades almost never work out for the team trading the better player.

I think it all comes down to how bullish you are on Amen Thompson.

How much you believe on him becoming an All-Star or even greater a superstar. And how long you think it will take him to get there.

If he can get to an All-Star level next season or the year after, he could adequately replace Jaylen Brown and do so in a short space of time.

Plus you pick up two more rotation players in Jabari & Reed Sheppard for taking on the risk of Amen's development + the waiting period for him to grow into the player he will eventually become.

[Who]

Four quarters for a dollar trades almost never work out for the team trading the better player.

I think it all comes down to how bullish you are on Amen Thompson.

How much you believe on him becoming an All-Star or even greater a superstar. And how long you think it will take him to get there.

Amen Thompson as a prospect makes me nervous.

I love his athleticism, defense, and possession creation. Plus he has a nice base skill level in ball-handling and passing.

But that shooting? ... it is just so bad.

He needs so much work. How good will his shot ever get? Will it be Andre Iguodala level (just about adequate)? Will he get to Scottie Pippen levels (average)? Will he get good enough to be a legit #1 option on offense?

I also dislike how little progress he showed in improving his jumper from Year 2 to Year 3. Next season is going to big for Amen Thompson. If he doesn't show progress in his shooting, I could see his trade value dropping way down as teams no longer consider him a blue chip prospect.

I think Amen Thompson is treated too much as a sure-thing by broadcasters / NBA writers. That they assume he can be a good shooter and become a big star in the league but his shooting is so bad that is no sure thing. He is more risk than they present him as.

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Some of his shooting numbers Year 2 to Year 3

10-16 feet = 41-84 FGA to 44-128 FGA
16-23 feet = 10-42 FGA to 25-72 FGA
3 pointers = 26-95 3PTA to 27-124 3PTA

So he showed no improvement in his 3PT shooting (27% to 22%). His long two point shooting improved from 23.8% to 34.7% but that is still a very poor number. Not a number where you want a guy taking that shot. His midrange 2 point shooting dropped from 48.8% to 34.4%.

Overall, he can't score outside of 10 feet.

His eFG% on shots outside of 10 feet in 2024-25 was 40.7%. In 2025-26, it was eFG 33.5%. No progress.

That also limits the value of his ball-handling and passing because teams do not have to respect him. If he did improve his shot, it would open up his ball-handling and passing much more.