The Detroit Pistons are emerging as the most surprising NBA story for the second half of the season thanks to their drafting of forward Ausar Thompson, one of two twin sophomore star forwards in the league.
Since February 1, the Pistons are 15-8 after their 123-117 loss on March 21 to the Dallas Mavericks.
In 16 minutes against the Mavericks, Thompson had only 3 rebounds, well below his season average of 4.9, but he has emerged as a defensive asset in his second year.
Thompson, who scored his 1,000th career point March 17 against the New Orleans Pelicans, has “exceeded expectations,” according to “Pistons Pulse” hosts Omari Sankofa and Bryce Simon on the March 15 episode of the podcast.
Pistons’ Ausar Thompson Represents Beginning of a New Era
Two years ago, a pair of Overtime Elite twins were selected back to back in the NBA draft as high-risk, high-reward-styled players. Since then, they’ve been steadily pushing the NBA toward a new era.
Rockets forward Amen Thompson, currently looking the part of a superstar, and Pistons forward Ausar Thompson – a godly defender leading his team with 3.7 deflections per game – have been all the rave. For every story about Amen’s future greatness, Ausar’s praise is much more subtle, because what he does rarely shows up on stat sheets.
Detroit – currently the sixth-seed at 39-31 – sits only a game back from the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference standings, and so much of that success should be accredited to the defensive impact of Ausar. In just his second pro year, playing just 21 minutes per game, I went ahead and looked at his per-36 minutes stats and what I saw shocked me.
Per 36 minutes (typical starter-level minutes) his averages are extrapolated to 15.9 points, 2.9 steals, 3.6 assists, and 8.2 rebounds (including a game-changing 3.1 offensive rebounds). The potential to be a Tayhsaun Prince-style anchor for Detroit is crystal clear – given he works on his single flaw – his bountiful energy.
But you may think to yourself – but his energy is his greatest asset! – and it is. But it could also keep him on the bench for more than half of every game, as it currently does.
If Ausar, who commits 4.7 personal fouls per 36 minutes, can slow his game down while continuing to make smarter defensive decisions on the ball, you’ll see his minutes go up and his fouls go down. His talent is clear – his discipline is just not at a professional level yet.
A Double-Edged Sword
Anywhere Ausar plays, he gives it his all. His energy, as discussed, is his double-edged sword – meaning he can blossom or become irrelevant with this quality. He was recently part of the 2025 NBA All-Star weekend as a Rising Star, and his competitive spirit is off the charts.
With the energy, he’s proving to be the type of player that champions target, with advanced stats that make basketball nerds drool.
His true shooting percentage of .581 is desirable, but not eye-popping. The Pistons may be asking him to take too many threes – however, his 0.8 3-point attempts per game are a notable decrease from last year’s 1.8 per game.
The star of his advanced stats is his usage rate (defined as the number of FGA, assists, and turnovers the player ends a possession with). Compared to his on-court contributions, his USG rate sits at a stunningly low 18.9.
High-Maintenance Attitude, Low-Maintenance Player
Simply put, he doesn’t need the ball to make his unbelievable impact. Those are unfortunately the players that don’t get the attention they deserve. The Pistons are currently enjoying incredible chemistry and are winning games nobody would ever guess they could win.
The Pistons are 15-7 since the beginning of February and a lot of that has been due to the forward’s ability to stay on the court – look at Ausar’s stats in that time frame. He’s not scoring the points to get him on the highlight reels that dominate our feeds, but he’s certainly adjusting. According to these more recent games, he’s averaging 3.3 personal fouls with an increase to 24 minutes a contest.
Should Thompson harness his god-given ability to be a terminator on the defensive end, he will quickly find himself among the top stars, not only for Detroit, but the whole league.
Finally, enjoy this video that focuses solely on Thompson’s ability to change the game without the ball in his hands:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlatrR6K6t8?si=veL4eAz9FoM0kdyb]
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