Detroit — As Trajan Langdon watched Game 7 unfold inside Little Caesars Arena against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, he did so with a critical eye. The Pistons’ president of basketball operations realized that, to build on their successful 60-win season, he needs to address several roster gaps this summer.
One key area to focus on is finding a reliable secondary ball-handler to pair with Cade Cunningham in the backcourt. Langdon continues to have high hopes and confidence in Jalen Duren, despite his struggles during the postseason, and plans to sign the All-Star big man to an extension this summer.
In addition, Langdon also believes that Ausar Thompson has proven himself to be a significant part of the franchise’s future.
“He (Thompson) was big-time,” Langdon said. “He took a huge step last year, and as the season went on, you saw how much he impacted the game on both ends of the floor. … He competes at a high level. He is team-first. He is going to put in the work. We are excited about our future with him.”
It’s a belief that some started to doubt regarding Thompson’s offensive development, particularly his shooting skills. It’s a skepticism that peaked at the 8:06 mark of the third quarter when Thompson airballed a 3-point, field-goal attempt during the Pistons’ 125-94 loss to the Cavaliers.
Langdon believes Thompson’s significance to the Pistons goes beyond the 25.0% he shot from 3-point range this season.
“I’m focused on what I can do to not be in this situation again — it sucks, but you can’t take it back,” Thompson said. “I feel like we’ve built a lot on the prior year. I feel like we can continue to do that, and I can continue to do that individually as well.”
Defensive potential takes shape
Although the Pistons did not reach the Eastern Conference Finals as the No. 1 seed, they still had their best season in 18 years. Thompson emerged as one of the Pistons’ primary contributors as his defensive potential began to take shape.
Thompson won two Defensive Player of the Month awards this season, which doesn’t fully showcase the career year he had on the defensive end. He led the league in steals, averaging 2.0 per game, with a total of 146 steals for the season. In addition, Thompson also recorded 69 blocks and averaged 5.7 rebounds.
Thompson played a crucial role in helping the Pistons put together the league’s second-best regular-season defensive rating of 108.9. Detroit trailed only the Oklahoma City Thunder (106.5).
Thompson maintained his defensive play throughout the playoffs. He posted the best defensive field-goal percentage, holding his opponents to 36.0% shooting while averaging 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks. His defensive production became so effective that one of the Cavaliers’ offensive game plans entering Game 7 was to avoid Thompson at all costs.
“The tactical adjustment we made was avoiding Thompson. We were just like, ‘If he is near the ball, throw it to someone else,'” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I never experienced that in the NBA. Even when you have a great player with the ball, and he (Thompson) is on it, pass it to someone else. We even let Evan (Mobley) handle it more in this series because of Thompson.”
Unorthodox scoring ability
Since entering the league as a first-round pick (No. 5 overall) in 2023, Thompson has established himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. This season, he developed into a solid two-way player, showcasing his unorthodox scoring ability while also serving as an effective secondary playmaker.
However, there is still room for improvement on the offensive end, which could eventually elevate Thompson to the highest level among two-way players in the league.
Shooting has been Thompson’s biggest detriment in his ongoing development. The Pistons hope he can improve his shooting, which would not only enhance his on-court performance but also boost the team’s overall offensive production. The improvement is crucial for providing the necessary spacing that the team needs.
Langdon is confident that Thompson will focus on improving his offensive game, especially since this summer will be the first time in his career that he has the entire offseason to dedicate to it. After playing a career-best 73 games this season, he finally has a full summer to base his offseason training on.
“He put in a lot of time in his offensive game last summer, and I know he will do the same this summer and come back with more confidence,” Langdon said. “Remember, last year, he did not play a full season. He worked through the summer, but it wasn’t like he was going to this year. We won’t have as many restrictions on him this summer as he had last year.
“He will be able to go out and do some serious work, and I know he is excited about it. You will not have to worry about Thompson putting in the work and competing. He is going to put in the work and listen to the best way he needs to put in the work.”
Rookie-extension deal possible
Langdon will have many decisions to make regarding the Pistons’ ongoing rebuild. One of the decisions to make this summer is whether to sign Thompson to a rookie extension. The contract extension would provide the soon-to-be four-year forward with the first major pay increase of his career.
Some may prefer to wait and see if Thompson develops a jump shot before offering him a rookie-scale extension. However, Langdon believes that the Pistons will benefit from keeping the versatile forward around for the long haul, especially considering his defensive abilities, work ethic and determination to bounce back from this season’s playoff failures.
“I’m not forgetting it — that series felt personal, so I’m not forgetting it,” Thompson said. “I’ll remember.”
coty.davis@detroitnews.com
@cotydavis_24
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Pistons still see Ausar Thompson as ‘big-time’ player with offensive upside
Reporting by Coty M. Davis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
