Ausar Thompson signed a five-year, $155 million contract extension in the offseason, but was he signed to be just a defensive specialist or to be a great all-around player for the Detroit Pistons? Thompson is a great talent on defense, but his offense no doubt needed major work in the offseason.
He is only 23 years old and has a lot of room to grow. Thompson averaged 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per game last season, and he led the NBA in steals on the way to All-Defensive First Team honors and a third-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He is going to need to become a much better offensive player as the 2026-27 NBA season approaches.
Ausar Thompson Talks About Fixing His Jump Shot
When Thompson met with the media at Mondayβs media day, one of the things he talked about was the process of trying to fix his jump shot. Thompson said, as reported by the Detroit Free Pressβs Omari Sankofa II, βItβs a weird process because you donβt know how much it changes until you look at an old video. Iβm confident shooting it now. Thereβs days where I may miss but the biggest thing is when I miss β¦ itβs the mindset you go into the next shot with.β
Where Ausar Thompsonβs Shooting Numbers Stand
It will be interesting to see how this is going to translate into games this season. Thompson only shot 25.0% from 3-point range, 57.1% from the free-throw line and 52.5% from the field in 73 games last season. All of those numbers will need major improvement in 2026-27. His offense has to be a difference-maker for this basketball team.
