Ausar Thompson drawing praise from Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff

During the Detroit Pistons 2025 Media Day yesterday, there was a clear, palpable sense of excitement within the building. The Pistons completed a historic 30-win improvement last season and earned a playoff berth for the first time in five years, but Detroit is not resting on its laurels. Instead, the team is enthusiastic to return to the court, and perhaps no player has generated as much offseason buzz as Ausar Thompson.

When Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff took the mic, it did not take long before he was dishing out compliments towards Detroit’s third-year forward and opined on Thompson’s high ceiling and versatile ability. 

“Ausar with the ball in his hands, he’s a nightmare,” Bickerstaff said. “So, how can we do more things to get the ball in his hands, especially in the open floor. Can he initiate offense for us?”

Now, Thompson has turned heads thanks to his athleticism, strength and aggressiveness during his second year as a pro, but Bickerstaff also sees the 6-7 forward as a player who can push the pace of Detroit’s offense in transition with a returning Jaden Ivey acting as his counterpart.

“I do believe that there’s a lot of things that you can do with the combination of JI and AT,” Bickerstaff said. “If you do have them on the floor as your wings, that’s probably the fastest set of wings that you’re going to see as a combination in the league.”

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With a focus on pushing the ball up the floor, the Pistons plan to let Thompson and Ivey run aggressively in transition since both are such speedy players. 

“We didn’t get an opportunity to see both of those guys at full strength,” Bickerstaff added, alluding to Ivey’s season-ending injury last year.

But in reference to Thompson’s still-developing game, the physical forward mentioned that he’s already been asking new teammate Duncan Robinson for shooting tips. So, it would be reasonable to expect Thompson to showcase an improved inside-outside component to his game, perhaps with a few more corner threes built in. 

“I'm aggressive all the time on defense,” Thompson began, “but to put that on the offensive end as well and just go out there with the mindset to be aggressive but not necessarily force shots or anything. Still play team basketball, but force the issue a little bit.”

In terms of what he’s focused on this season, Thompson said he’d like to cut down on his fouls and how that would in turn help keep him on the floor longer. If Thompson can avoid foul trouble, then he can operate as the Pistons’ primary defender on the other squad’s top scorer, and he singled that out as a focal point for his upcoming goals. 

If all that comes to fruition, Thompson is set to take a sizable leap forward in his overall game. He’s already been lauded as one of the most imposing young defenders in the league, so to see his offensive game keep pace would give the Pistons a dynamic, hard-nosed forward with a unique skill set to utilize this season. 

The Detroit Pistons will open up the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 22 against the Chicago Bulls. 

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