Did the Detroit Pistons end up with the better Thompson Twin?
By Tyler Dutton
When Ausar and Amen entered the 2023 NBA Draft, their upsides and, more importantly, downsides were widely known. The Thompson brothers were coming out over Overtime Elite, meaning their competition wasn’t that impressive. They were elite in their work ethic, defensive ability, and athleticism, but were at the very bottom of the draft in shooting potential. Now that we have had almost a full season to observe both Ausar and Amen, how have they compared? Did the Detroit Pistons end up with the better twin?
Ausar and Amen Thompson offensive stats and breakdown
Ausar Thompson
G: 63
GS: 38
MIN: 25.1
PTS: 8.8
FG%: 48%
3P%: 18%
FT%: 60%
ORB: 2.0
AST: 1.9
TOV: 1.3
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Amen Thompson
G: 46
GS: 7
MIN: 19.7
PTS: 7.9
FG%: 51%
3P%: 15%
FT%: 65%
ORB: 1.8
AST: 2.3
TOV: 1.4
As already mentioned, the Thompson Twins’ offensive abilities were the largest question mark coming into the NBA Draft. They showed advanced cutting/slashing and athletic finishes at the rim, but away from the basket, they both struggled. Once in the league, this has largely remained unchanged. Both players have a great basketball IQ and routinely find themselves in perfect position on the court, and both field goal percentages are right around 50 percent, which is close to the average in the NBA today. Ausar is consistent at hitting mid range shots while cutting across the paint, and Amen has his offensive tool bag as well.
Where they both struggle is shooting from deep. Coming out of the draft, Amen was actually labeled as the better shooter, but both were known to be below average. Since being drafted, it’s actually been Ausar who has shot the three ball slightly better than his brother. Statistics-wise, Ausar has a slight, three percent lead on his brother, but the stats are slightly skewed. Ausar started the season shooting extremely poorly from three, but has actually seen his percentage rise above 25 percent over the last month or two. His current 18 percent obviously shows how low his percentage was before this uptick.
All in all, both Thompson twins have provided the IQ, athleticism, and lob abilities that NBA teams were promised on the offensive end, but it’s actually been Ausar who is shooting slightly better from three.