ClutchFans Game Thread: Kings @ Rockets 2/25/2026

been saying this for months now. Not rocket science. Thats why a trade needs to happen. Im leaning towards trading Sengun

 

Kilian was back?!

 

All the criticisms of Lebron's game as just a "big powerful athlete" with "no bag" like he's only a stronger Jabari Smith. But Lebron is Kyrie, Harden ball coordinated compared to Amen.

Amen has fluid movement, but not the ball command with it.

 

I dont think reed has had a good game with Amen, Sengun and KD starting with him. The substitution partners start to get weird and they freeze him out of the offense.

 

I know its the kings but it should be no surprise the offense was far better without amen

Its a world of difference starting a modern lineup with 4 capable shooters as opposed to sengun and amen or god forbid having okogie in there as well

 

If somebody gets traded its def got to be Amen. Sengun is already an all star and a better shooter than Amen. Amen just a big ball of potential right now sure he is dominant defensively but he also cant really anchor the defense like a gobert can.

Like vs a healthy Tari I think Tari is better player than Amen cuz Tari can also be elite defensively and make athletic plays but he can also be a reliable 3 pt shooter which opens space for everybody.

 

Okogie has been servicable with his 3pt shooting though.

 

Does he know he has to practice in order to improve? He plays like he got coached up by FVV and Ime.

 

Anyone trying to trade or bench Amen is insane

Tari is the guy that needs to come off the bench

 

After watching this rebuilt team the last 2.5 years I’m convinced the issues with pace and space is because of Sengun. Udoka made Sengun the hub of the offense where everything ran through him the first 2 years. Even when surrounded with 4 shooters the offense was really compressed since he couldn’t shoot more than 10-12 ft. He couldn’t even shoot an elbow jumper or FT line jumper with regularity and his post game is to set up paint hooks or spin out drives. I mentioned before he isn’t Hakeem who had a 15-18 ft shot and a turnaround jumper etc. hakeem of all people have more range than Sengun.

Now with the Durant timeshare the space is even more crowded.

As discussed before, why does Jokic work? Because he could always shoot at least 20 ft out and added a 3 pt game. The spacing just isn’t working especially with Amen. I think Amen can work if we get another dynamic guard playmaker. And why do I think Giannis works? Because he’s quicker than Sengun and plays quicker handling fast break. He also historically has shot more mid range shots than Sengun at slightly higher efficiency. And he’s a great playmaker.

 

I'm not sure the solution but Amen causes a ton of problems on offense by killing spacing. He's a beast defensively and in transition but he makes everyone on his team worse in the half court.

 

I do think Sengun being a #1 option is contingent on him having a 3P shot. I'm not sure what level it needs to be at though. Would just shooting as "well" as Draymond Green be enough? Like 33% on 4 attempts? Maybe, and that seems like it might be doable since it's a fairly small improvement. Just enough to make guys try to semi-contest for spacing purposes.

The other issue is he has to be a little more efficient from around 5 feet out to the 3P line. He's not bad when he actually gets to the rim, but anything beyond that, he takes a lot of those shots and they're not efficient enough.

The thing I've been thinking about a lot was the thing you mentioned about KD. I thought he would be a much better fit than he is. On paper he sounds perfect for this team, being "one of the greatest shooters of all time", other than his age. But the game isn't played on paper. As you mentioned, he likes to work in the same areas that Sengun and Amen need to operate. His ideal play is to get the ball around the elbow and take a couple of dribbles and shoot. He's a good 3P shooter, but not a super-prolific one. He slows things down and compresses our spacing more than I think most of us expected.

I'm not sure whether Amen and Sengun can ever fit together, but I'm pretty damn certain at this point that Amen/KD/Sengun is not a championship combination.

 

Translated: "We'll see when I'm actually allowed to put up 16 3s again. If ever."

 

We are FAR better with Amen playing next to/with Reed...not as PG. Give it time.

 

The problem is that Amen is such a joke of a shooter it makes things so much harder for everyone else to operate in the halfcourt. Until that changes, he'll be a liability on offense, especially if there's even one other non-shooter out there.

If he could massively improve to be just a really bad shooter, everything changes, but right now everyone laughs at him when he shoots from further than 6 feet from the rim.

 

Issue isn't Amen. It's Amen and Sengun. Reed can operate in either the halfcourt or in transition. Amen is a demon in transition (as is Reed). Sengun isn't efficient enough to justify his place in the half court offense but is good enough to keep the offense afloat (alongside Reed).

You're either going to live with the defensive and transition limitations of Sengun, or live with the half court limitations of Amen. Problem isn't entirely Amen's inability to shoot. Even Legler said that it's infuriating to him how Amen is used in the Rockets offense. "Someone needs to go the bench" is sort of moot because it's either Sengun or Amen and neither one of them is.

 

In today's NBA, there's no excuse not to be able to develop a serviceable outside shot. Hell, Brook Lopez shot zero three pointers the first 8 years of his career, now he attempts them and hits them just well enough to at least space the floor.

Amen needs to adapt or die.

 

I like three things I've seen people throw out there for Amen:

1) Stagger the minutes. Amen doesn't need to be playing 37mpg either. Bring that down to around 33mpg or so, and try to get about half of those to be when Sengun is off the court resting.
2) He needs to be the roll man in the PnR more often in halfcourt sets, especially when Sengun is sitting. It helps minimize our spacing issues. He was very effective in this role last season, and we've gone away from it this season.
3) Get him posting smaller defenders up. If his man is going to sink back into the paint, let Amen abuse that with his strength and athleticism to get close to the basket, where he's more efficient (career 46% from 3-10ft) and can potentially find the open man.

In transition and early in the shot clock I think it's fine for him to try to drive, but we need to do a better job with him when things slow down.