Although Ausar Thompson is a superb defender, the Detroit Pistons must account for his inconsistency as a perimeter shooter
Once the Detroit Pistons locked Ausar Thompson into a five-year rookie scale extension, the team checked off one of their major offseason objectives. As a budding defensive star with All-Defensive First Team credentials, the Pistons view Thompson as one of their most important pieces, so it was crucial to secure his presence in the Motor City long-term.
But outside of that $155 million extension, the Pistons have been unable to cross their final hurdle: the Jalen Duren situation. As a 22-year old restricted free agent coming off an All-Star campaign, Duren is of the mindset that he should earn near max value after his near-20-point, 10-rebound year. But after a rocky postseason performance as a relative non-floor spacer, Duren is having trouble settling on a number that Detroit feels comfortable with.
Fortunately, that back-and-forth negotiation process should come to a head soon with an Oct. 1 qualifying offer deadline approaching. In that case, Duren would play the 2026-27 season on a $9.6 million deal before hitting unrestricted free agency and effectively severing his relationship with the Pistons. Naturally, Detroit would prefer to avoid that tumultuous outcome, so one avenue that would still recoup value for the big man would be through the sign-and-trade route.
If the Pistons change their mind and consider that option, the Milwaukee Bucks are noted suitors with Myles Turner as a potential replacement piece to offer up. In that situation, Turner would give Detroit a sharp-shooting big to help offset Thompson’s relative ineptitude from three-point range, which would quite obviously open up the Pistons’ playbook.
For the most part, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been forced to remain cognizant of Thompson’s shooting struggles when putting together Detroit’s lineups given his 25% mark from downtown last year. Naturally, that means Thompson played heavily alongside Duncan Robinson so that the Michigan product could help offset that offensive restriction.
Despite brief injury patches, the Pistons generally worked with the same starting five all season long: Thompson, Duren, Robinson, Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris. With that group on the floor, Detroit was a very respectable +10.1 net and +8.3 offensively, which supports the team’s 60-win output. Thompson could lock down scorers on the other end of the court while Robinson knocked down triples, and the Pistons sailed smoothly in securing the top seed.
When Robinson was out of that lineup with the streaky-shooting Ron Holland II in his place, the Pistons were a -41.7 net and -57.8 offensively, though the sample size is staggeringly small. Then when Daniss Jenkins completed Detroit’s lineup instead of Robinson, the team’s offensive rating sunk to -19.7, which tends to support the notion that Duncan’s range is a necessary stronghold during Thompson’s minutes.
This season, the Pistons should benefit from having much more credentialed three-point shooters on the squad with Isaiah Joe, Taurean Prince and Gary Harris contributing from downtown as well. All three of those players (four including Collins) hit threes at a 40% clip during the 2025-26 campaign, so they should realistically give Bickerstaff a greater volume of lineup combinations to use with two-way confidence when Thompson’s on the court.
