The Detroit Pistons haven't exactly made good on an encouraging 2-1 start to the season, losers of a league-high 10 straight games entering Friday's in-season tournament matchup with the Indiana Pacers. Don't blame Ausar Thompson for his team's frustrating and ongoing ineptitude, though. The rookie wing has already cemented himself as one of the game's most disruptive, active defenders less than a month into his career.
Thompson is the only non-big in basketball averaging over 10 rebounds per game, and ranks 10th with 1.7 blocks per game despite standing at least four inches shorter than every player ahead of him on the leaderboard. He leads the NBA by recovering 1.6 loose balls per game, also pacing rookies with 1.1 steals. The Pistons' defensive rating dips 5.9 points with him on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass, even more telling evidence of the rare impact Thompson is making on that side of the ball.
Draymond Green has already feted Thompson's defensive ability once this season. While serving his five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert chokehold, though, the Golden State Warriors star once again went out of his way to praise the 20-year-old, calling out NBA media and fans alike for not giving enough attention to defense.
“Ausar Thompson averaging 10 rebounds and almost 2 blocks per game is not being talked about enough. That’s wild!” Green wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening. “Let me guess though… it’s not points, so it doesn’t matter?”
Ausar Thompson's game needs to catch up to his defense
It's true that Thompson hasn't received as much acclaim as fellow first-year standouts Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the latter emerging as an early frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. But Thompson has still garnered plenty of plaudits—including at ClutchPoints just a week into the regular season— for his elite defensive talents from media and fans alike, especially considering Detroit's continued team-wide doldrums and his negative influence on the other end of the floor.
Thompson really is a one-of-one rookie defender on the wing. But he's certainly not the only young player to wreak havoc on defense while posing problems offensively. If he was a reliable three-point shooter instead of one of the league's worst or even just a reliable secondary creator, Thompson would no doubt be receiving more Rookie of the Year buzz despite Holmgren's torrid start.
Those major offensive deficiencies and team struggles in mind, though, there's only so much more to say about Thompson's potentially historic defensive trajectory that hasn't already been covered. Thompson is shoo-in for All-Rookie First Team honors if he maintains his current level of play, let alone improves. The accolades are coming, basically, and he'll be subject to more of them once the rest of Thompson's game—spot-up shooting and offensive decision-making, most importantly—starts catching up to his defense.
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