You won’t find a bigger Detroit Pistons’ Homer or Ausar Thompson fan than me, so it’s always nice to hear my admittedly biased opinions confirmed by an outsider, which is what happened on a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show.
I’ve long been calling Thompson the Pistons’ 2nd-most important player, as he is already elite defensively and has so much more room to grow. He and his brother are athletic aliens, the likes of which I have not seen since the days of Dennis Rodman.
Zach Lowe gushed about Ausar, saying there was a “big leap coming” and ending it with a warning, “just watch out,” though he added that he doesn’t know if Ausar will ever be quite as good as his twin brother when it comes to ball handling and shooting (more on that in a minute).
Trajan Langdon has already talked about Ausar’s work ethic this summer, which underscores the fact that this is his first full offseason as an NBA player. He missed all of last summer, training camp and the beginning of the season with blood clots and was forced to jump in mid-flow and get in shape on the fly, which is not an easy thing to do.
Thompson was still an impact player for the Pistons, who took off as soon as he was inserted into the starting five. I agree with Lowe that there is a big leap coming, but I am not so sure Ausar can’t catch up with his brother.
Ausar Thompson vs. Amen Thompson
I can guarantee that Ausar entered the offseason with a big chip on his shoulder after Amen made the All-Defensive team and he didn’t. To be fair, Ausar wasn’t eligible, but he wants to be the best defender in the world and could get there if he stays healthy.
But can he get to his brother’s level as an offensive player?
Amen Thompson was certainly better than his twin last season, averaging 14 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 55.7 percent shooting, while also adding 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
But Ausar wasn’t far behind, as he averaged 10 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and adding 1.7 steals and .7 blocks per game.
Amen played more games off the bench and was given more of a chance to be part of the offense than Ausar, who was mainly a starter playing with high usage guys.
And as I said, Ausar had to jump into the season without the chance to even practice full speed much with his teammates, so he’ll come into this one with more familiarity and more of a role in the offense. Some added strength should make him stronger with the ball, and I do think we’ll see Ausar featured as a playmaker far more next season, giving him a chance to bump those assist numbers up. Having the streaking Jaden Ivey to throw outlet passes to off rebounds will help.
As long as Ausar can stay healthy, the All-Defensive team is almost a given and we could see both he and his brother on the first team next year.
Ausar and Amen are always going to be compared, but Ausar may not be as far behind as people think, and the Pistons should be excited about what is to come.