I liked some of what he wrote, but his writing style got a bit tedious at times. The shock of what he would say would become more important than what he was actually saying. Somewhat similar to Chuck Palahniuk, who I also have mixed feelings about. I just don't think coming up with the most fucked up thing you can makes you a great writer. Jack Kerouac, however, I like a lot.
As a sportswriter(which is how Thompson started and finished, and was the partial inspiration for non-sports works like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), I didn't think Thompson was very good. I suppose, given how little people paid attention to his sports stuff, that's really not important, though.
I can respect that he had a tremendous influence on the 70's generation of aspiring writers, and that he was clearly a cult icon.
