After signing a new five-year deal, Ausar Thompson is drawing some significant praise to one of the game’s all-time greats
Now that the Detroit Pistons have one important piece of business in the bank by signing Ausar Thompson to a five-year rookie scale extension, the team moves one step closer to the start of training camp next week and the pre-season shortly thereafter. Of course, the Pistons still have some work to sort out when it comes to Jalen Duren and his restricted free agency, but that situation is destined to come to a head soon since the All-Star center has until Oct. 1 to sign his qualifying offer.
Over the past several weeks, there has been a lot of debate about how the Pistons view Thompson and Duren. Specifically, the discussion has centered around which player is held in high esteem as the franchise’s second-most important asset, and both players frankly have compelling arguments working in their favor. Thompson is a defensive menace at the point-of-attack with superb change-of-direction, agility and leaping ability. Though his offensive game still needs to be refined, AT has a rare blend of talent and athleticism that is mirrored perhaps only by his brother, Amen, on the Houston Rockets.
Together, the Thompson twins likely form the most athletic duo in the NBA, but their respective teams deploy them quite differently. On the Rockets, Amen is utilized as a lengthy point guard who initiates in the half-court when surrounded by three or four near-seven-footers on the floor, so his usage patterns are vastly different than that of Ausar’s, who naturally defers to Cade Cunningham for creation in the Motor City.
But over the last two seasons, Thompson has grown and developed in J.B. Bickerstaff’s system, and the Detroit head coach prefers to have multiple players on the floor who are comfortable handling the rock. So, Thompson has provided some auxiliary playmaking for the Pistons when called upon even if his primary impact comes on the other end of the court.
”If Ausar is a one, if he turns into a one, just like his brother and [Russell] Westbrook, he’s one of the most athletic ones the game has ever seen.” Gilbert Arenas said on Gil’s Arena. “If he turns into a two, the athleticism is on the Michael Jordan, Vince Carter level. He might not have the jump shot, but the athleticism? He’s still the guy in his position as most athletic. As small forward, he’s going to be only competing with his brother for most athletic guy in his position.”
For the most part, the Pistons have found a rhythm that they’re comfortable with where Thompson starts on the wing, but his position is slightly fluid and conceptual. In a sense, it’s better to think of Thompson’s responsibility in each direction with regards to his position since he’s tasked with guarding the opposing squad’s most dangerous player on a nightly basis. In many circumstances, that’s the point guard, so Thompson takes on the head of the snake as a perimeter defender for Detroit with both regularity and enthusiasm. Offensively, AT is a bit lost at times since he’s such a poor three-point shooter (25% last season from downtown), which negates his impact and puts pressure on Duncan Robinson to carry out many of the classic shooting guard responsibilities.
”When you’re talking about just valuable, he’s a super stud in all three positions he would play,” Arenas said. “Defensively, all three positions he is locking down, so he is the magladon at the one, two or three defensively.”
Realistically, Bickerstaff is going to continue using Thompson on the wing since the point guard position has so much depth at the moment. With Daniss Jenkins returning behind Cunningham, the Pistons also snagged former Stanford point guard Ebuka Okorie in the first-round of the draft, so there’s a wealth of floor generals in the Motor City. Still, Thompson has secondary playmaking ability, which can only make him a more valuable asset to have on the Pistons as he plays out his new five-year, $155 million extension.
