Ausar Thompson's 'ability to grow' wowing Detroit Pistons coaches, teammates
Monty Williams believes in the power of stress.
After an energetic first day of training camp Tuesday, the Detroit Pistons’ new head coach intentionally overloaded his players Wednesday to see how they would respond. Improving as a team isn’t just about offense and defense, he said. Emotional regulation matters as well.
On Thursday, Williams put Ausar Thompson through the wringer. Like any rookie, the Pistons’ 2023 No. 5 overall pick was overwhelmed by the number of tasks thrown his way. But it also gave him an opportunity to show why the coaching staff, and his teammates, are confident that he’s ready for a big role.
Thompson stood out in Las Vegas Summer League play in July, leveraging his elite athleticism and sharp instincts to wreak havoc defensively. He swatted shots — often at the point of release — forced steals and consistently positioned himself to snatch away defensive rebounds. In four games, he averaged 1.8 blocks and 2.3 steals.
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That has translated to camp this week in Detroit. On Thursday, he deftly navigated screens and made a couple of plays in transition that Williams said no other player in the gym could make. He didn’t go into specifics, but everyone was impressed.
“One he missed, but he was so dynamic everybody was like, ‘Wow,’ ” Williams said. “It was one of those plays. There are a few guys in the league that can do that, not many from the wing position as a rookie. We just have a lot of faith in his ability now, but also his ability to grow in his game.”
Since the night of the draft, the Pistons have had big expectations for the 20-year-old wing. General manager Troy Weaver said on draft night that he believes Thompson will be able to defend the NBA’s best players. During Monday's media day, Thompson’s teammates were adamant that the rookie will be one of Detroit’s best defenders from the moment the Pistons tip off the regular season on Oct. 25 against the Miami Heat.
Training camp has offered more evidence that Thompson is ready to go.
“We loaded him up mentally, so his head’s probably spinning and other things right now,” Williams said. “I don’t mind that. I think stress allows for all of us to grow in capacity. The more you’re stressed out, the more stuff we throw at him allows for him to grow. It also tells me who he is and how he can help us. We stressed him out. We hit him with a lot. But he has physical gifts and natural playing abilities that allow him to overcome things that he might not know.
“We think he’s going to be phenomenal and we think he’s going to be an integral part of our team. There’s a chance that could happen right away, just based on what we’ve seen this summer and in camp.”
Thompson said he hasn’t been surprised by much this week, despite it being his first NBA camp. He spent a lot of time with his teammates during the offseason — not just during Summer League, but in Los Angeles for Rico Hines’ annual basketball runs and in Midtown for pickup games at the Pistons’ practice facility.
It sped up his acclimation process and gave the team more opportunities to parse his unique skillset. Beyond his gifts on defense, Thompson is a skilled and willing passer and does the dirty work, such as cutting and tipping in missed shots. He’s 6 feet 6, but his game is simultaneously guard-like and big-like.
“I feel like it helped us bond, it helped us be connected as a fam, as a team,” Thompson said. “It’s a blessing that we were all there and all contributing.”
On Monday, Thompson said he feels as though he’s already ready to guard the league’s top talents. It raises the question of how many minutes the coaching staff will allocate to him early on, given their desire to improve defensively this season. Will he start or come off of the bench? Will the coaching staff pair him with two other guards or allow him to handle primary ballhandling responsibilities.
Williams noted that it often takes a while for rotations to settle, especially early on. Several camp battles will play out during preseason and potentially into the regular season.
“Ausar can play with the ball and more,” he said. “From that standpoint, yeah, we’ll figure out once we start to play and look at rotations, the combinations and see which guys work best with which. That’s a combination of what we know and then upstairs with analytics, we’ll look at those numbers and see what works best.”
Regardless of how his rotation shakes out, Thompson is in Detroit’s immediate plans.
“He plays winning basketball,” Cade Cunningham said. “He plays super hard. He connects the floor really well. His playmaking ability should be talked about more, because he’s a willing passer, but he’s able to read the floor really well. And the way he gets after it on the defensive impact will be huge from Day 1.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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For (preseason) openers: Suns
Matchup: Pistons (17-65 in 2022-23) vs. Phoenix (45-37 in 2022-23), exhibition opener.
Tipoff: 3 p.m. Sunday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit, NBATV; WWJ-AM (950).
Regular-season opener: At Miami Heat; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons have one word for Ausar Thompson's athleticism: 'Wow.'
