The Detroit Pistons have a ton of confidence in Ausar Thompson. Not only have they made him completely untouchable in trade talks, but they have also made their offseason moves to be able to give him a lucrative, long-term extension. All the reporting out of Detroit suggests that the organization sees Thompson as a member of their core trio, with some even going so far as to say that he may be their second-best player.
This is a lot of pressure to put on Thompson. The Pistons are hoping to be championship contenders for the foreseeable future. Claiming that Thompson is already at a level where he can be one of the best players on a team with title aspirations is a big statement. Can the 23-year-old forward become the player the Pistons expect him to be?
A lot more than just shooting has to improve in Ausar Thompson's game
There needs to be a lot of improvement for Thompson to get there. Many will understandably focus on the shooting, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Plus, Thompson is just so far away from becoming even an average shooter that the Pistons can't count on it. If he becomes a threat as a shooter, that would be the icing on the cake.
His lack of shooting wouldn't be that big of a liability if Thompson could do other things in the half-court. The former fifth-overall pick just does so little offensively outside of transition. For him to be the second-best player on a title contender, Thompson has to find ways to be a better offensive player.
This requires him to be a better cutter, finisher, and playmaker. Thompson made 67% of his attempts at the rim and 37% of his short-midrange attempts, defined as shots between four and 14 feet, per Cleaning the Glass. This was the 58th and 32nd percentile among wings. Neither of these numbers has improved since Thompson's rookie season, just like his free-throw or three-point percentage.
Since Thompson is a poor off-ball player, the Pistons have to experiment with giving him the ball. That hasn't worked out all that well, either. Thompson ranked 70th out of 85 players who played at least 60 games and ran at least one pick-and-roll per game in points per possession. His isolation numbers aren't particularly impressive, either, as he has scored 0.93 points per possession, which is in the 59th percentile, per NBA.com.
Thompson had a 16.9% usage rate in the regular season and 13.7% in the playoffs last year. Among players who played at least 400 minutes in the playoffs, only two players had a lower usage rate than Thompson: Dean Wade and Julian Champagnie. Neither player is anywhere near being a key member of a championship core.
There aren't too many starters who are as limited and have as small a role offensively as Thompson. When one of your perimeter players is such an offensive liability, it makes roster-building that much more difficult. Another non-shooting center like Jalen Duren in the starting lineup creates significant spacing concerns on offense.
Sure, there are also no perimeter players as good as Thompson defensively. But the Pistons can't solely rely on that. There are plenty of elite defenders who top out as defensive specialist role players. Thompson has to figure out how to contribute offensively, whether it's by shooting, finishing, or playmaking. Without it, he is unlikely to ever become the player the Pistons hope he might.
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