A higher draft selection and more career accolades could explain why Amen Thompson is earning a higher dollar value than Ausar, but dive into the deeper reasoning here:
The Houston Rockets officially have the richest twin in NBA history, as Amen Thompson’s 208 million dollar contract extension was significantly larger than his brother’s. Ausar just signed a 155 million dollar deal of his own, which is nothing to sneeze at, but it is 53 million dollars less.
I have a feeling that will be used as bragging rights whenever those two get together, and we already know just how competitive they are. To this point, it seems like Amen has the upper hand, though.
First he got to boast about getting drafted one spot higher than Ausar, then he made an All-Rookie over his brother as well, per Basketball-Reference. To top it off, Amen Thompson was named First Team All-Defense in just his second season, with his team winning eight more games.
The Detroit Pistons and Ausar Thompson weren’t far behind, as their 44 wins in 2025 was a 30 win increase from his rookie year, and springboarded them into a stellar 2026 season. It seemed like the pendulum was swinging more in Ausar’s favor as Detroit won 60 games and easily held onto first place.
Their Thompson twin also got his All-Defensive honors, making the first team as well. His squad got further than Amen and the Rockets have too, playing in a Game 7 with the hopes of making the Eastern Conference Finals.
They’ve both clearly done very well for themselves, so why is there a 53 million dollar difference in their contract extensions? Is there really that big of a difference in what these teams expect from them? Well, yes and no.
For starters, the roster structure on each side is just different. While the Rockets have made it very well-known that Amen Thompson is virtually untouchable, the same can’t be said for his brother in Detroit. They already have Cade Cunningham, who has already proved to be a star. Even Jalen Duren proved to be an All-Star, despite his shortcomings in the postseason.
Ausar Thompson is currently being viewed as their third best player, and will be for the foreseeable future. Sure, Amen is viewed as Houston’s third best player too, with Durant and Şengün being All-Stars, but the age gap is different. Durant isn’t exactly on his last leg or on his way out the door, but we all know that has to happen sooner rather than later.
Amen is expected to step up more, and potentially even replace Şengün, completely reshaping the roster. Ausar Thompson doesn’t have those expectations. Unfortunately, I can’t confidently say that’s because Amen is a better player, but rather, Detroit just did better in the draft.
If Jalen Green was on the level of Cade Cunningham, Amen Thompson would have such high expectations on him. Rafael Stone and the front office haven’t found a cornerstone piece yet, though, so they’re paying and praying that Amen Thompson becomes just that.
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