In a new interview with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone explained Houston’s confidence in rising star Amen Thompson and some of the reasons the team recently awarded the 23-year-old with a five-year, $208-million contract extension.
Stone spoke with ESPN at the Rockets-Mavericks media day in Macao, China, where the longtime Texas rivals are playing a pair of preseason games over the weekend.
Regarding the organization’s view of Thompson, Stone said:
I think he’s a very, very good basketball player. Since about halfway through his rookie year, we’ve been a materially better team when he’s on the court, and he keeps getting better. I thought he had a really good year last year.
He helps our team on the
court in literally every way you can. We turn the ball over less. We turn the other team over more. We rebound better. We shoot a higher percentage. We shoot free throws better. Everything is better with Amen. So yeah, we’re very, very high on him.
He’s just so physically gifted that he can be as good as anybody can be. When you start with his tools, including his personality and mindset, the sky is literally the limit. He’s not the best player in the world right now, and he knows that, and he knows he’s got a lot to improve on.
To that final point, Stone made it clear that further improvements from Thompson are expected — both in the upcoming 2026-27 season and beyond.
“We hold all our players to a high standard, and especially the young ones who are kind of developing and have been with us for a while,” Stone said.
Thompson is entering his fourth season with the Rockets, and he earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors in 2024-25. Last season, he averaged a career-high 18.3 points (53.4% FG), 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals in 37.4 minutes per game, and he played the most cumulative regular-season minutes of any NBA player.
Stone’s ESPN interview also includes insight on topics such as Houston’s unique team-building approach; expectations in the 2026-27 Western Conference; and a recent offseason trip to visit Alperen Sengun in Turkey. The segment can be viewed in its entirety below.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rafael Stone: ‘Everything is better’ when Amen Thompson is on the court
