Detroit Pistons: Ausar Thompson Could Serve As 2-Way Swiss Army Knife

Entering the 2026-27 regular season after going 3-1 in the exhibition stage, the Detroit Pistons have the unique challenge of re-establishing themselves in the league after an offseason where many suggest that other teams in the Eastern Conference passed them up. 

Now, the Pistons have a track record of flourishing when they’re counted out, so perhaps that chip on their shoulder will be put to good use this year. It’s not often that a 60-win team can sneak up on the NBA just one season later, but that could be the case with a handful of teams earning more offseason hype than Detroit. 

From a defensive perspective, fourth-year wing Ausar Thompson has assumed more responsibility in setting the team up structurally now that Isaiah Stewart no longer resides in the Motor City, so that’s one slight change for the Defensive Player of the Year candidate. But the biggest difference for Thompson should come on the other end of the court after a summer packed with dedicated skill work and shooting drills. 

During the preseason, the Pistons used Thompson as a secondary playmaker who handled the rock early and often throughout their four exhibition contests. Thompson helped facilitate the offense and made reads coming out of pick and roll sets more often than normal, and these are the type of high-leverage scenarios that Detroit wants AT to be comfortable in. 

If the Pistons can use Cade Cunningham in off-ball situations with AT as the floor general, that should open up the squad’s offensive playbook while forcing the defense to ditch their pre-game scouting report at the same time, which is a concept that Thompson fully backs. 

“It’s super fun,” Thompson said after beating the Toronto Raptors. “Cade finds me, Cade finds the whole team so much, so it’s honestly cool to pass it back to him and giving assists to him where he doesn’t even have to dribble. He’s our leader, so getting him easy points, that just sets him up for the rest of the game.”

In Detroit’s preseason finale on Friday night, which was a 129-125 win over the Raptors, Thompson continued to take steps forward as an offensive threat with 12 points (5-for-5 FGs), three rebounds and four assists on the night. Clearly, Thompson was in a groove with that perfectly efficient shooting night, but it was the type of shots that AT hit that stood out the most. 

At times, Thompson has drawn rightful criticism for his shooting rate, but the Overtime Elite product looked confident elevating for jumpers against the Toronto defense. At times, Thompson broke his defender down off the dribble and leapt into the paint for tough, contested finishes near the bucket, but the versatile athlete took everything in stride no matter what the defense gave him. And perhaps more than anything, it was Thompson’s ability to take in that information and respond with the correct play that defined his performance. 

Right now, the Pistons have a couple days to rest up before they open the NBA regular season with a 3 pm tip-off against the Boston Celtics at home on Tuesday, Oct. 20.