If Ausar Thompson can improve his shooting to even a mediocre level, then his new deal from the Detroit Pistons could look like a bargain
Since training camp is approaching at a rapid pace, the Detroit Pistons picked up the speed of their offseason activities last week when signing Ausar Thompson to a five-year, $155 million rookie scale extension. With a contract of that value and length on the books, the Pistons have made certain that they’ll have one of the premier point-of-attack defenders on their roster for the next half decade after his third-place Defensive Player of the Year finish last season.
On top of that podium position, Thompson won the Defensive Player of the Month award twice for the Eastern Conference during the 2025-26 campaign before making the All-Defensive First Team, so his ability as an on-ball defender is not lost across the NBA. At this point, the largest criticism levied against Thompson’s game is his lack of consistency as a shooter and relatively limited offensive impact, and those are fair critiques.
Last year, Thompson hit his three-pointers at just a 25% rate, which was among the worst in the league. That type of inconsistency is why Thompson found ample space from the perimeter during the playoffs— opposing teams knew he wasn’t a threat from downtown in rounds one and two. But since Thompson will be collecting an average of $31 million per season on an ascending contract, there is a discussion to be had about whether or not that’s fair value for his contributions.
”I think this is a big bet on Ausar Thompson, and I don’t think this is a bad deal by any stretch of the imagination,” NBA analyst Sam Vecenie said. “I do think it’s a deal where he needs to get better offensively to be worth this money.”
After three years as a pro, Thompson’s inability to develop a steady outside shot is a little concerning, but it is not a curse without an ailment. The Pistons have Fred Vinson on staff as a noted shooting specialist who helped Jalen Duren improve his free throw shooting by 7% in the offseason, so there’s still hope for the defensive ace.
”I pulled a big data sample on the shooting,” Vecenie said. “I asked in my head the question: how many perimeter players have gone from being what he’s been as a shooter, so shooting under 25% from three, one three-point shot per game to becoming a reasonable shooter over the last 25 years? The best example is Shawn Marion. So, Shawn Marion made 73 threes in his first three years in the NBA then went on to make 33% of his threes for the rest of his career including a few spike years when he was 39% from three on four and a half attempts per game in his fourth year, but then from ages 30 to 33 he shot like 22% from three, so it was really a rollercoaster for Marion.”
As a 16-year NBA vet, Marion was consistently praised for his ability to serve as a versatile Swiss Army knife on both ends of the court. By the end of his career, Marion could do a little bit of everything, and he shares a resemblance to what Thompson offers on the floor at times. Marion had to work at it for his three-point shot to improve while he was on the Phoenix Suns, but the longtime vet figured it out.
For Thompson, this offseason was a crucial time to really focus on his jumper and hone in on some spots on the floor that he feels comfortable shooting from. If AT can become a dependable option from the corner, then the Pistons would have another valuable outlet to use once it’s time to recycle a drive into the paint. Now, it’s easier said than done to improve as a shooter, but doing so would make Thompson’s rookie scale extension look even more like a team-friendly bargain for the Pistons down the line.
