The Detroit Pistons still need to extend Ausar Thompson’s contract before the start of the 2026-27 regular season on Oct. 20
Up until the start of the 2026-27 regular season, players drafted in the 2023 NBA Draft are eligible to receive rookie scale contract extensions to stay with the team that drafted them or they can play out the final year of their deal to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. That’s the scenario which played out over the last 12 months with the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren and is just about to commence with Ausar Thompson, though the latter situation should be handled much more expediently.
Earlier today, Ausar’s twin brother, Amen, inked a new five-year extension with the Houston Rockets that is set to pay out $208 million over the next five seasons, which works out to just under $42 million per season.
Now that Amen has signed on the dotted line, his deal helps provide at least a rough outline for the type of contract that Ausar could sign over the next several weeks, but they are two slightly different types of players. While the Pistons harness Ausar’s on-ball perimeter playmaking defensively and sparingly work him in offensively on the other end, the Rockets ran most of their offense through Amen at the point of attack last season. Amen took a considerable step forward as a creator with that added responsibility and boosted his distribution rate by 1.5 assists per game while scoring 18.3 points each night himself.
Ausar, on the other hand, is a noted lockdown defender who jumps passing lanes with startling success and finished in third place for the Defensive Player of the Year award last season. Ausar’s offensive game still lags well behind his defense as the Pistons’ offense runs through Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren first and second, but the Overtime Elite product has made strides as a ball handler, though his primary impact comes during transition or as a slasher through the back door.
As for Detroit’s All-Defensive First Teamer, Ausar led the NBA with two steals per game last year and added just under one block each night to his stock total. At 6-7, Ausar has the length to guard frontcourt players with the speed and agility to stick with the quickest of backcourt guards as well, so his defensive versatility is second to none across the league, which bodes well for his upcoming extension.
But in order for the Pistons to have a full, complete picture of what they have to offer Thompson, the team needs to work out a deal with restricted free agent Jalen Duren first. Right now, Duren has until the end of the month to decide whether or not he wants to sign his qualifying offer for $9.6 million, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next offseason. The most likely scenario is that the Pistons and JD agree to terms within the next couple weeks, then Detroit advances to Thompson’s extension shortly thereafter.
Either way, the Pistons plan to keep both Duren and Thompson in the Motor City on a long-term basis, and they should have new deals to announce before too long.
