09/03/26 03:59:00
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09/03 14:53 CDT Rockets lock up Amen Thompson with a reported 5-year, $208M
extension through 2032
Rockets lock up Amen Thompson with a reported 5-year, $208M extension through
2032
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) --- The Houston Rockets signed Amen Thompson to a contract
extension, the team announced Thursday.
The Rockets didn't release terms of the deal, but multiple reports said it was
a five-year, $208 million extension that would keep him in Houston until 2032.
"Amen represents everything we want our organization to be about," Rockets
general manager Rafael Stone said. "He has elite two-way ability, a toughness
and the will to outwork his peers, and he competes in every circumstance. Year
over year, he's improved in every facet of his game, and we know his best
basketball is ahead of him."
Thompson, the fourth pick in the 2023 draft, started 79 games last season and
averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.51 steals a game. He
joined Luka Doncic as the only players in league history to average at least 18
points, seven rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals a game.
He led the league in minutes played last season to become the third Rocket to
do so, joining James Harden and Moses Malone, who both did it twice.
The 23-year-old, who has developed into the team's top defender, showed his
versatility to play any guard position last season when he stepped in as the
team's point guard with Fred VanVleet missing all season because of a knee
injury.
Thompson has improved steadily in his three seasons in Houston after averaging
9.5 points as a rookie and scoring 14.1 points a game in Year 2.
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