Rockets young duo have to make it work

I was ready to go nuclear.

I was resisting urges. Fighting demons.

I was ready to say Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson can’t play together.

Let’s be honest - it isn’t a clean fit. You don’t look at these two guys and think “synergy”.

The paint is as crowded as a public beach the day after COVID restrictions lifted. This isn’t high-level basketball theory. It’s pretty simple. In the modern NBA, two players who don’t shoot the three well shouldn’t work together. So, I was ready go nuclear:

Until I had a revelation.

As far as revelations go, this one was light on profundity:

Sengun can probably shoot at a sufficient level in time.

That’s the main point. The idea is that two of a team’s most important players can’t be non-shooters. It’s not that one of them needs to be an elite one. Sengun hit 33.3% of his 0.7 attempts per game as a sophomore. He’s hitting 30.1% of his 2.1 attempts per game in 2025-26. The point?

He’s not hopeless.

It’ll be incumbent on him to improve. Some will disagree. They’ll suggest that the perimeter player should be the one to shoot. Perhaps in an ideal world (although I’m not sure it matters, put a pin in that), but Thompson...well, he’s probably hopeless. If nothing else, he’s too far behind as a three-point shooter (19.3%) to realistically think about life if he improved.

So the Rockets will have to invert a lot of actions. That’s fine. In this fantasy world where Sengun hits, say, 35% of his 3 threes per game, he can initiate from the perimeter. Sengun can beat a lot of 5s off the dribble, and if opponents cross-assign guards onto him, he can beat them with brawn: As long as the opposing 5 is, you know, actually guarding Thompson.

That was the issue against San Antonio. In the second half, Stephon Castle guarded Sengun. Victor Wembanyama guarded Thompson, but he didn’t guard Thompson. Instead, he sagged off of him and dared him to shoot.

It would be less of an issue if teams cared if Sengun shot. He could pop out to the perimeter. He’d either drag Castle out with him, putting himself in a position to isolate on a smaller opponent and Thompson an opportunity to blow-by Wembanyama one-on-one, or he’d get an open three. If a Sengun open three was a decent outcome for the Rockets’ offense, that would change those situations entirely. Hopefully, this is a glimpse of the future:

But what about now?

Where’s that inverted pick-and-roll? Sengun ran it with KJ Martin. It was one of the few plays that consistently generated two points for the Silas-era Rockets. It would work just as well with Thompson.

More broadly, Thompson should be doing more screening, rolling, and cutting. When he does have the ball, Sengun should be avoiding the paint as much as possible. Even if he’s not a credible three-point threat, someone is likely to guard him out there. He’s simply too good to leave open.

Even more broadly: there’s nothing in the data to suggest that the two are untenable. Sengun and Thompson are +7.5 in 1018 minutes together this season per Databallr. The spacing problems are more pronounced on a situational basis. They can play together...until they can’t.

An improved three-ball from Sengun is the key to unlocking their partnership on a full-time basis. For now, there are some wrinkles Udoka could add to the offense to mitigate the spacing issues.

There’s no reason to overreact.