The Detroit Pistons have yet to resolve the Jalen Duren stalemate. While there may be some reason for concern there, the more worrisome thing about the Pistons' offseason may be their misevaluation of Ausar Thompson.
GM Trajan Langdon has referred to Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson as the Big 3. The Pistons clearly think of Thompson as an indispensable member of this core. In fact, a lot of the moves they made this offseason were motivated by the desire to retain Thompson on a lucrative, long-term deal. That is a big reason why the Pistons cleared a ton of cap space going forward and refused to add long-term salary to their books.
It is also why Thompson has never been a part of trade discussions in Detroit. This has always seemed like a non-starter. This week, we got a good idea of why that may be the case.
Pistons are making a big mistake if they think Ausar Thompson is their second-best player
In his appearance on the Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN's Vincent Goodwill revealed how the Pistons organization sees Thompson. He said that there are people within the organization who hold Thompson as the second-best player on the team over Jalen Duren. (h/t Pistons Talk) Goodwill added that this has been affecting Detroit's contract discussions with Duren and Thompson.
This was confirmed by Pistons insider Ku Khahil on X, who said that he believes the Pistons "would be more comfortable paying Ausar more money than Duren." He added that this may be one of the reasons the contract extension for Thompson hasn't been agreed to so far this summer.
Saying that this is a sign that the Pistons are overrating Ausar Thompson would be an understatement.
Thompson is a valuable player and is one of the best defenders in the league. If he is your second-best player, however, you are not a real championship contender. No team is winning multiple playoff rounds with their second-best player as a perimeter player as bad as Ausar Thompson offensively.
It's not just Thompson's shooting. The 23-year-old is a net negative in half-court offense. He is not a real threat to score on or off the ball. He had a 16.9% usage rate last season, which went all the way down to 13.7% in the playoffs. If you look at a list of players who had a usage rate around that in any playoff run, you are not going to find any perimeter players worth investing in or building around.
Thompson can, of course, improve. He can and should be better offensively. If and when he becomes a player JB Bickerstaff isn't benching at the end of playoff games because of his offense, the Pistons should gladly pay him.
Giving Thompson anywhere close to what Duren will get this season will be a mistake. It will be paying Thompson like the player he could become in the future, rather than the player he is right now. If the Pistons end up paying Ausar like he is the second-best player on the team, that contract has a very low chance of being a team-friendly deal. That possibility should scare Pistons fans.
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