It was one thing – a very encouraging, thing to be sure – for Ausar Thompson to average a double-double and register numbers in the box score’s every category in Summer League. To see him do it in his first preseason game is another matter – and even more encouraging if you’re a Pistons fan.
Or Monty Williams, for that matter.
Then again, Williams saw it coming. And said as much ahead of Sunday’s 130-126 overtime loss to a Phoenix team that trotted out superstars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal for the first half.
“We think he’s going to be phenomenal,” Williams said on the third day of training camp. “And we think he’s going to be an integral part of our team. And there’s a chance that could happen right away, just based on what we’ve seen this summer and in camp.”
You can’t read too much into the starting lineup used for the first preseason game, but it’s fair to say that Williams choosing to start Thompson and bring Jaden Ivey off the bench – more on that in a minute – means Williams is almost surely considering Thompson as a starter. And surely considering him for a prominent role.
He looked every bit worthy of such consideration, too, in finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and a memorable blocked shot in his NBA debut. Thompson is both sizzle and substance. At 20, he is both a well-rounded player already yet one with more room for growth than anyone else on the roster and pretty much everyone else in the NBA with the possible exception of his twin brother, Amen, taken one spot ahead of him in the June draft.
He played 39 minutes and Williams admitted that was more than he had intended, but it speaks to how easy a fit Thompson is in various lineups because of his versatility and ability to put his fingerprints on the game without needing to dominate the ball.
“I kind of got caught up in the game and realized he was up there (in minutes),” said Williams, adding that he dialed up a play for Thompson in overtime “and he was actually wide open and we didn’t make the pass.” At that point, Williams called it a day for the rookie. “We’ll take tomorrow off and let him recover,” he said.
The only prominent knock on Thompson leading to the draft was questionable perimeter shooting. Chances are he’s not going to take many triples as a rookie or early in his career. But it was heartening for everyone, not least Thompson, that he took – and made! – the corner three that capped a late Pistons rally to send the game to overtime.
“I was really pleased with him taking the shot down the stretch and making the three,” Williams said. “To take that shot in that situation says a lot about his mental fortitude.”
Thompson’s defense will be his more immediate area of impact, though he showed his playmaking flair with a beautiful drive and dish to Jalen Duren for a first-quarter dunk. Beal began the game guarding Thompson and the Pistons probably can expect that strategy – putting an offensive centerpiece on Thompson on the assumption he’ll be an easier assignment due to not being a primary scorer – from other teams. But Thompson can punish those matchups with his size, athleticism and nose for rebounding.
His defensive impact was best captured Sunday by a second-quarter possession in which Booker drove down the left side and got to his bread-and-butter mid-range pull-up. Thompson rose up with him, blocked the shot by smothering Booker as both players reached an apex, recovered the ball and fed ahead for a Cade Cunningham transition layup.
All in all, about as encouraging a start as the Pistons could have hoped from Thompson.
- As for Ivey coming off the bench – and, again, it’s not safe to assume that is in the cards – well, it works if Ivey embraces that role. And the early returns are promising. He hit the ground running on Sunday, knocking down a pair of triples soon after entering the game and playing with the same air of confidence that earmarked his play over the final few months of his rookie season.
Ivey finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes and did it with supreme efficiency, hitting 5 of 8 shots and 3 of 6 from three. The Pistons were without Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) and Monte Morris (lower back), so we’ll have to see what it looks like when everyone is available.
But if Thompson starts and the Pistons get enough shooting by having Bogdanovic or Alec Burks in the lineup with Cunningham, Duren and Isaiah Stewart, then there are going to be a lot of options and plenty of firepower left over for Williams to stitch together a most capable second unit.
- Jalen Duren suffered a right ankle sprain in Sunday’s first half and was limping some after the game, though walking without a boot or any aid. Before he was injured, James Wiseman was the only big man off the bench to play in the first half. Wiseman started the second half in Duren’s place and Marvin Bagley III came off the bench to play 22 second-half minutes – and score 25 points.
Williams said last week that Bagley and Wiseman are probably competing for one rotation spot as the second unit’s big man, so that’s a leg up for Bagley with three preseason games to come.
“Changed the game,” Williams said of Bagley, who hit 10 of 14 shots, including 1 of 2 threes and 6 of 7 free throws to go with seven rebounds. “He just came in and played with a great deal of force. His dives were productive. He wasn’t putting the ball down in traffic. Defensively, I thought he did a much better job calling out screening actions which helped our guards out. For him to sit over there and come in and have an effect says a lot about his mindset and discipline to stay locked in.”