With the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery in the books, we now know the Detroit Pistons draft will start with the No. 5 pick in the first round. With one of the best chances to win the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, sliding all the way down to No. 5 is disappointing. However, the Pistons can’t wallow in their sorrows, as this pick is crucial to the team’s long-term rebuild. And that’s why Overtime Elite guard/forward Ausar Thompson to the Pistons is a perfect fit for Detroit with the No. 5 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
3. Ausar Thompson is an excellent defender
The best NBA playoff teams have a solid defensive foundation. Even offensive juggernauts like the Golden State Warriors had lockdown defenders on the squad like Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
If all goes right with the Pistons’ rebuild moving forward, the team should already have its primary scorers. Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and James Wiseman could form an offensive triumvirate that could carry the Pistons to the playoffs.
If all goes wrong for Ausar Thompson, the 6-foot-7 wing should stick in the league as a lockdown defender. Right now, Ausar is the lesser offensive player when compared to his twin brother and fellow 2023 NBA Draft prospect, Amen Thompson.
However, Ausar is incredibly athletic and slightly bigger than Amen. He’s also incredibly intense and competitive on the court, making him arguably the best on-ball defender in this draft class.
Getting an elite defender at No. 5 is a solid pick for any team, but with Cunningham and Ivey at guard, having a defender like Thompson on the team will take a lot of weight off their shoulders.
2. He’s a wing
After drafting in the lottery for the last few years, the Pistons’ drafts have produced a lot of solid options at guard and the big man spots. Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Killian Hayes have the primary ball-handling spots wrapped up, and Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, and James Wiseman (who the team traded for at the deadline last season) are all solid bigs.
What the Pistons don’t have are many wings in that 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-9 range who can guard opposing wings and play 3-and-D basketball.
Ausar Thompson on the Pistons provides just this, which is why he should slot into the starting lineup from day one in Detroit.
Thompson’s defense is the selling point (see above) but he has some offensive game, as well. He is a playmaker who averages over six assists per game, and with his athletic prowess and speed, Thomspon is a transition bucket waiting to happen, whether he leads the break or finishes it. He’s also good off the bounce going to the rim.
The real key to Ausar Thompson’s Pistons ceiling is whether he can develop his 3-point shot. He only shot 30% from deep with Overtime Elite last season and a dreadful 67.1% from the free throw line.
Thompson can become an impact player based on his current basketball profile alone. But if he can become a top-level 3-and-D wing, he could be a championship player at the next level.
1. Thompson could have huge potential
If you’ve made it this far reading about Ausar Thompson as a Pistons draft prospect, the main questions you have left are likely where the heck does he play? And what exactly is Overtime Elite?
Overtime Elite, where the Thompson twins currently play, is a two-year-old professional American basketball league founded as an alternative to college or the NBA’s G League. The league/basketball academy pays more than the G League and offers classes and professional development as well for players.
The system is much more like European soccer academies than anything the U.S. has ever seen. It has the potential to become a serious NBA feeding ground that produces high-quality prospects. The only problem is, Amen and Ausar Thompson are the first test cases.
So far, the only Overtime Elite player to play in the NBA is 2022 undrafted free agent Dominick Barlow who played 28 games and 408 minutes for the San Antonio Spurs this season. The Thompson twins are the first elite prospects to come out of the system, so their success (or lack of it) will go a long way in selling the system to future players.
But here’s the thing. While the Thompsons could be overrated because of the unknown level of competition they play against, they also could be underrated for the same reason.
The moral of the story here is that the Pistons have been bad enough for long enough that they still need to take some chances on lottery tickets in the NBD draft lottery. Ausar Thompson has some boom-or-bust potential in the NBA, and that’s OK for the Pistons because of where they are at in their rebuild.
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