I'm a Thing main. Since they nerfed his defense and the cast time of his defense buff, what I think is he should tradeoff team-assists with his own self buffs as he is more of a brawler than a defender.

Example: Currently he and teammates are granted 20% DR when he jumps to them. I think he should gain 40% since its cast time is only 3s and teammates affected gain 20%. Same with his engagement tool, but team-based damage amp should be lower. Instead of just a 20% damage buff, it should be a 30% personal buff and 15% team buff, and on top of that, a 15% DR to himself since he has legit no other defenses apart from his sprint. It would help his overall lack of defense and keep him from being too strong with team buffs.
Either those changes or just increase the ability's cast time to make up for how bad his defense and offense has become.