The Detroit Pistons and forward Ausar Thompson have agreed to a five-year, $155 million contract extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The deal has not yet been officially announced by the team.
Thompson, 23, was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in his third season as Detroit finished with the top record in the Eastern Conference at 60-22.
The Pistons’ 2023 first-round pick (No. 5 overall) out of Overtime Elite Academy in Atlanta, Thompson led the league with an average of 2 steals per game with 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 0.9 blocks in 73 games, while shooting 52% from the floor.
Signing Thompson to an extension was an underlying priority for the Pistons during the offseason, which was a primary reason why the team has declined to sign restricted free-agent center Jalen Duren to the five-year max contract extension he’s seeking.
Additionally, many observers questioned why Detroit and president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon failed to make a blockbuster addition to the roster while several Eastern Conference rivals improved themselves dramatically.
The Pistons had until Oct. 19 to sign Thompson to an extension. He is set to make $11.1 million in the final year of his rookie contract.
Thompson’s twin brother, Amen, signed a five-year, $208 million extension with the Houston Rockets earlier this month. He was selected one spot earlier than Ausar in the 2023 NBA Draft and was viewed as the better scorer. (Amen averaged 18.3 points per game last season.)
Now, the brothers have agreed to contracts worth a combined $363 million, becoming the highest-paid pair of twins in NBA history.
Ausar Thompson extension took priority for Pistons over Jalen Duren deal
Duren, 22, is eligible for a max extension of five years and $287 million after being named Third Team All-NBA last season. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, while also being named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the first time.
However, the Pistons do not want to pay Duren more than $50 million per season, especially after he underperformed badly in the playoffs, averaging 10.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. Detroit has reportedly offered Duren a contract in the five-year, $190 million range, according to The Athletic.
Because of the contract stalemate, Duren is reportedly considering taking a one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer and becoming an unrestricted free agent after the coming season. Duren has until Oct. 1 to accept that offer.
In the meantime, he and his representation are pushing for a trade to the Sacramento Kings, one of the teams willing to sign the center to a max contract, according to reports. However, the Pistons apparently are not interested in making a deal.
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