I’ve always been high on Ausar Thompson but after Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors, I’m ALL IN. Thompson, the fifth overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, has been stuffing the stat sheet in each game so far this Summer League and the hype is real with this guy.
I know I always have to take it down a notch given its Summer League, but Thompson has just been on another level compared to most of the guys playing this month. Over the last three Summer League games for Thompson, he’s shown he’s more than capable of holding his own in the NBA and potentially being a primary ball-handler for the Detroit Pistons.
Let’s start with his first outing against the Orlando Magic.
In his Summer League debut, Thompson put up seven points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal. He only took four shots on the night and made one which isn’t great by any means, but while he wasn’t able to contribute scoring wise he found other ways to impact the game.
To be fair to Thompson, Jaden Ivey was playing keep away with him and playing like a prime Jaylen Brown. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
This play here sums up what was to come in the following games for Thompson. He was able to get a nice left handed hook after getting the steal on the other end of the floor and these plays are what make him great.
Plays like these are Thompson’s bread and butter. Making a play on defense and hustling in transition to get a bucket. There have been so many instances of this sequence over the last three games and it gets me so excited for what’s to come in the regular season.
In Thompson’s second game against the Houston Rockets he put up an improved 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. What stood out to me in both games was Thompson’s ability to facilitate both in the open floor and in transition.
He has both great vision and passing ability whether he’s out on the break or at the top of the key and displayed that against Orlando, but turned it up a notch against Houston.
I love this no look dime to find Jared Rhoden for the splash against Orlando.
In this play against the Rockets it looks like he gets stuck in the paint but he keeps his composure to find Marcus Sasser who makes a nice move to get open for the three-pointer.
This ability to facilitate, I think, can open doors for the Pistons when guys like Cade Cunningham and Ivey are getting breathers on the bench or, in the worst case scenario, if they’re hurt. Thompson’s ability to find an open teammate can easily promote him to being the secondary ball handler if he proves to be just as good, if not better, than Ivey in that department.
In Detroit’s most recent game against the Raptors, Thompson again was all over the stat sheet and definitely had his most impactful performance on both ends thus far. He finished the night with 17 points (50% FG), nine rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks.
Just a dominant night for Thompson on both ends in what was a thrilling 94-90 victory. The Pistons were down by as much as 17 points against Drake’s Raptors but were able to make a huge comeback thanks to their tenacious defense.
I want to focus on Thompson’s defense particularly because I feel that’s where he really stood out. He was matched up against Gradey Dick for a majority of the game and absolutely locked him up.
He had two blocks on him in the first quarter and one of those turned into a reverse jam on the other end giving the Pistons some great momentum. Dick did end the night with 22 points but shot 2 for 10 from deep with four turnovers.
Not only was he shutting down Gradey Dick, the biggest block of the night came against Moses Brown who is going to take some time to recover from this one. He did this during crunch time too when the Pistons needed some stops to complete the comeback.
Along with that big time block, Thompson again showed his two-way potential on this play coming up with the steal and finish in transition.
One of my favorite plays of the night though has to be this hustle play on the offensive glass. Thompson just did not give up here and this one proved to me he’s NBA ready.
Overall a great night for Thompson and the Pistons and a great night for Detroit fans as well. Seeing the work Thompson is putting in during the Summer League gives me so much hope for this team and I genuinely think he can become a great player in the NBA.
He’s already gone out and stated he wants to win a championship with Detroit and while many rival fans will laugh at that statement, that’s exactly what you want to hear from one of your rookies.
His game will take him far no doubt, but his mentality is what’s going to take him even further in this league.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of ClutchPoints
Writing Roundball 
Leave a comment