How Ausar Thompson can take the same leap as his twin, and transform the Pistons

Siblings are usually lumped together; that's just how it goes. The Kelce brothers are eternally connected, the Morris twins, and even the Jackson 5. While Michael Jackson was great enough to thrill audiences on his own, his siblings are still compared to him.

The NBA's Thompson twins are in the same boat. You can't look under any post about either of them without someone bringing up the other one. In Ausar Thompson's case, individuals are letting the world know they are wrongfully sleeping on the twin in the Motor City.

Amen Thompson rightfully garnered Defensive Player of the Year buzz last year, and that momentum has carried over into this year. Respected NBA analysts have Amen entering the year as a top-five shooting guard (whatever position he plays, expectations are high).

The same buzz isn't there for Ausar. He's going to slam that morning alarm clock this season. Detroit Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham believes that the world is sleeping on his potential co-star.

If Ausar does what Cunningham suggests, the Pistons' trajectory shifts. They transition from an exciting, youthful group to "the East is wide open and we have a shot" territory. There are a few things Ausar needs to do to take that leap, and he's already flashed plenty in those areas.

Ausar Thompson's growth could alter the NBA

Amen is universally loved due to his defensive tenacity, versatility, and uncharted athleticism. Luckily for the Pistons, Ausar has most of those tools in his arsenal.

In terms of being a defensive firecracker, Ausar pops like a select group. If you need one stop on a superstar-level player, regardless of position, Ausar is one of the best names you could draw from a hat.

Ausar's matchup difficulty graded out at an A+ per BBall-Index. He takes the toughest matchup every night. From Luka Dončić to Kevin Durant, Ausar will be in your jock strap if you're the number one option. He's not just running around out there; he makes stars work. His perimeter on-ball defense ranked 16th out of 569 players.

Ausar is a dogged defender who takes being scored on personally. Jalen Brunson's memorable pull-back from the 2025 first round will be remembered, but what went under the radar was how much Thompson made Brunson work for every bucket down the stretch. Brunson acknowledged the young defender after the series.

The Knick series will teach Ausar a lot, and staying out of foul trouble was the number one lesson.

Ausar's 5.0 foul percentage ranked in the third percentile, according to Cleaning The Glass. It's not unusual for an elite defender to foul a lot, but Ausar is too good to be in the third percentile. The Pistons need him on the floor to display his defense-to-offense tactics.

These types of plays are what Cunningham is referring to. If Ausar is constantly on the floor, his impact will be felt. Although he was recovering from blood clots that limited his offseason last year, the Pistons were still plus-2.7 with Ausar on the floor (fourth on the team behind Cunningham, Malik Beasley, and Tobias Harris). His impact is already there, and he's not even a great scorer.

The scoring route for Ausar stems from transition flurries and dynamic decision-making as a roller. Ausar's shooting is not something that will be answered this year, but reps can help him reach league-average status. Ausar, as a league-average shooter, is a different monster because of all the other skills he already possesses.

The pick-and-roll with Ausar offers versatility as he can operate as an elite roll man or a pretty good ball handler (in spurts). Ausar needs to clean up his handle to be fully unlocked in the half-court. If he does that, the Pistons could have two All-Stars from this core.

Cunningham is approaching MVP status. He finished 7th last year. Cunningham is getting better, but who's coming along for the ride? Jaden Ivey got his season chopped in half with a knee injury last year. He was shooting the leather off the ball, and there were hopes he could live up to his draft selection.

Jalen Duren had a promising second half of the season after a low-effort-filled October, November, and December. Detroit would like one of these three to become a true number two to Cunningham, and Ausar shakes out best here.

His game is cohesive with Cunningham's, though he's not a shooter. Ausar can run the offense in spurts, take tough matchups from Cunningham, and offer versatility in the pick and roll. Ivey is a better ball handler than him, and Duren is a better roll man, but Ausar can do both on solid levels. That type of versatility could lend itself to Ausar being the Pippen to Cunningham's Jordan (this duo fits the Bulls duo's physical profile as well).

If Ausar can put it all together (not a horrible shooter, better handles, less fouling, while improving what he's great at), the Pistons won't be a fun, cute story anymore. Detroit was already the 6-seed, with Ausar appearing in only 59 games.

If Ivey and Duren's development stays idle, Detroit would still have two high-level players in Cunningham and Ausar, with more than enough ancillary pieces around them. Ausar reaching monster level aids Detroit's defense, which carried them when Cunningham was the whole offense.

Detroit's defense was top-10 last year, but it improved by two points with Ausar on the floor. Every great Pistons team since the team's inception has had a hard-hat defense mentality. Ausar embodies what Detroit has stood for in the past, and he's just getting started. More Ausar minutes mean better team defense and a noticeable stamp on the game. He's going to wake up the basketball world now that he has had a full offseason to grind.

If he reaches the heights many say Amen is already at, we could see a Rockets versus Pistons Finals one day. We all love stories, and it wouldn't get much better than that. The world will be wide awake if Ausar takes that year three leap.

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