What we thought then and what we think now: Amen and Ausar Thompson (2024)

Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson are identical twin brothers and two of the top prospects in next month’s NBA Draft.

While Amen is the brother who most members of the media forecast as the better of the two, Ausar is the one who has won a clean sweep of MVP awards over the last two years at Overtime Elite. NBA scouts have also anonymously pushed back against the narrative that he is secondary to his brother, as we reported both after the Final Four and last week’s NBA Draft Combine.Currently, I have Ausar going No. 4 in the 2023 NBA Draft and Amen going sixth.

Outside of which direction Charlotte should go at No. 2 overall, trying to peg the Thompson twins is the largest non-Wembanyama narrative of the summer's draft.

In trying to figure out who's the better prospect, we traced the roots of these two projected lottery picks and also forecasted what a future role in the NBA might look like in the latest edition of “What We Thought Then & What We Think Now.”

What We Thought

The Thompsons grew up in Oakland, California before relocating to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They attended Pine Crest School and played their grassroots basketball for Florida Pro, a local independent team. They were on the verge of a national breakout when the pandemic arrived in the spring of 2020.

On last week’s episode of College Basketball Recruiting Weekly, director of basketball Eric Bossi recalled first hearing about the Thompsons a few months later.

“They had just finished up their sophom*ore seasons at Pinecrest,” Bossi said. “One of my coworkers sent me some film of them and I was like ‘hey man, how have you not told us about these guys yet’ because they were about 6-foot-6 and very athletic. We threw them into our top 150, kind of as an upside play. Then, as things went on, I was able to see them in August of 2020, playing in a camp in Wichita, Kansas, the Crossroads Elite Camp. As soon as I saw them live and in person their size, their athleticism, their instincts, how they fed off each other, I was totally blown away and knew they were going to be high-level guys. Now, given the level of competition they were playing against was a little sketchy and a little raggedy at times, it was basically pickup games, you wanted to see them in person more against competition. But upon seeing them in person you knew they were going to end up being at least five-star players, even though we started off fairly conservative with their rankings in the fifties, and that they were going to be potential NBA players. Now obviously, I didn’t quite see them being who they are now and skipping a year of high school and doing a year of OTE and all that stuff. But it was readily apparent that they were going to be big time players, but certainly could not have called them lottery picks at the time.”

What We Think

The Thompson twins have collectively become the face of Overtime Elite’s basketball start-up for the last two years. They’ve thrived within that league and gained momentum as NBA prospects since their arrival.

They’ve essentially done everything together though – playing side-by-side in OTE and even measuring identically (6’5.75” without shoes and a 7-foot wingspan) at the NBA Draft Combine.

While they are identical twins, with similar styles on the basketball court, it is only recently that the ways in which they differ have gradually become more apparent.

While they are both top-notch athletes, Amen is truly elite. With good speed, an explosive first step, and violent leaping ability at the rim, he is set to be one of the most complete athletes in the NBA from day one of his rookie season. With a plus-six wingspan, an ability to play through contact, and a frame that is only going to keep adding muscle mass in the coming years, it would be hard to design a more ideal physical prototype for the game of basketball.

Amen has some serious playmaking tools as well. He loves to play with pace in the open floor and can create tempo both by accelerating with his own dribble or throwing ahead. His first-step and ability to finish above the rim are explosive even in a half-court game and he has plenty of counters in the lane with extended euros and pro-hops. Finally, he’s a talented passer with good court vision. He uses his size to see over the defense, finds spacing shooters across the floor, and has some creativity in his way to deliver the ball. In total, there’s real upside here to be a primary creator.

Defensively, he’s physically gifted with his size, length, and ability to move laterally that should eventually make him very versatile, although he has not yet shown the consistent discipline to maximize those tools.

The biggest question mark with Amen is his shooting. He shot just 25% from the three-point line this year and had some glaringly bad misses as opposing defenders in OTE would blatantly dare him to shoot open threes. Even mechanically, the shot leaves a lot to be desired as his release looks stiff and can both go flat and off to the side at various times.

Ausar is cut from a similar cloth in that he is a high-level athlete with long-arms and a chiseled build. He has tools that should eventually translate defensively, loves to play in the open floor, shows a true passing instinct, and has historically been a questionable shooter.

Two areas where Ausar has surpassed his brother are with his defense and shooting. While he too could learn to play lower to the ground, he is typically much more locked in on the defensive end of the floor. He not only shows consistent flashes of positional versatility and switch-ability, but he’s also a playmaker on that end of the floor without being reckless with his decision-making.

His shot was mechanically similar to his brother’s, but has shown more improvement within the last year. He’s still not much of a threat on the move or particularly natural with his pull-up, but when it comes to stationary spot-up threes, there are reasons to be optimistic long-term.

The other notable difference on the offensive end of the floor is that Ausar isn’t quite as dynamic a creator. He doesn’t blow right by his man as easily in the half-court (he can go from fast to faster in the open court though!), can end up trying to make too many moves with the ball, and doesn’t always finish plays around the rim as consistently as expected.

Consequently, he doesn’t yet project as a primary handler or creator, but someone who is best suited off the ball. He’s even a valuable cutter without the ball.

The Bottom Line

When you dive deep into the film, it’s understandable why there is no clear consensus about which twin is the best prospect.

What there does seem to be though, is different developmental paths in front of each brother at this point and time.

Amen is trending towards a budding big guard with a very rare overlap of playmaking, passing, and extreme athleticism. The defense should come along, but the shooting is a glaring red flag.

Ausar is much more of a two-way wing. A high-level athlete in his own right, he has a chance to be an elite defender and valuable “connector” on the offensive end with his passing, cutting, and developing ability to make open shots.