While negotiations drag on with one member of the Pistons’ young core — Jalen Duren — they have locked up another.
Detroit and Ausar Thompson have agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year, $155 million contract extension, news first broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and since confirmed by other reports.
Thompson is one of the NBA’s elite perimeter defenders and was named First Team All-Defense last season, while averaging 9.9 points per game and starting 73 games for a 60-win team. He averaged a league-leading two steals a game plus nearly one blocked shot a night. The Pistons see Thompson as a core part of their future (some would argue more critical than Duren) and getting him locked down at this price is a good deal.
That said, a contract averaging $31 million a season is a bet on Thompson’s offensive game — especially his outside shot (25% from 3-point range last season, and that was an improvement) — taking some steps forward. Right now, Thompson is considered a non-shooter and that can clog the offense at times, even though the Pistons were an impressive +7.5 points per 100 possessions better when he was on the court last season.
Ausar’s twin brother, Amen Thompson, signed a five-year, $208 million extension with the Rockets this summer. The twins were selected back-to-back in the 2023 NBA Draft, Amen at No. 4 to Houston, then Ausar at No. 5 to Detroit. Both are considered freak athletes, even by NBA standards. While Ausar has proven to be the better defender (although Amen made an All-Defensive team two seasons ago), Amen has considerably more offensive pop.
While the Pistons have worked things out with Thompson, they are still negotiating with Duren, who is a restricted free agent. The Pistons reportedly have put a deal in the five-year, $190 million range on the table, but Duren, coming off an All-NBA and All-Star season, wants an average salary of at least $40 million a season.
Detroit is trying to lock down its core with Duren, Thompson and already under contract Cade Cunningham. That group won 60 games last season, but learned some hard lessons in the playoffs, where they exited in the second round. While Duren has taken a lot of criticism for his postseason struggles, part of the issue is that playing him with Thompson at the same time put two non-shooters on the floor, which allowed both the Magic and Cavaliers to pack the paint and make life especially difficult for Duren. Detroit is doing the right thing locking up this core, it has championship potential, but if Thompson doesn’t become at least a threat from beyond the arc, Detroit could face tough roster construction decisions down the line.
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