Ausar Thompson

Central Notes: Duren, Thompson, Lillard, Middleton, Buzelis

February 14th, 2025 at 10:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rising Pistons stars Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson appear to have elevated their long-term ceilings this season, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Duren and Thompson are elite athletes, Langlois observes, but both players have also looked pretty raw at times as scorers. They look to be turning things around this month, however.

Thompson has averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals across seven contests in February. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is also exploring Thompson’s abilities to serve as a supplemental play-maker and get to the basket. He’s been averaging 4.7 free throw attempts per game this month.

“He’s growing into the role that this team needs him to be in,” Bickerstaff said of Thompson. “Offensively, we need him to be a threat. He’s an elite play-maker. Some of the passes he threw tonight … he’s a special passer, but now you can his confidence growing as he’s finishing at the rim.”

Duren, meanwhile, is also developing as a ball-handler. He has dished out 23 dimes against just seven turnovers in his last four contests.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, an Oakland native, is returning to the Bay Area for his ninth All-Star appearance this weekend at San Francisco’s Chase Center, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Lillard observed that his hometown feels somewhat out-of-sorts as it is drained of its pro sports presence. “I feel like my childhood, a lot of the positivity was that all of the guys who are from the Bay Area we took pride in having our teams there,” Lillard said. “It gave us something to belong to us. But now with all of them leaving, it’s like a ghost town. So, I hate to see that for the city.” The Warriors have departed Oakland for San Francisco, the NFL’s Raiders left for Las Vegas, and the MLB’s Athletics are following suit.
Former three-time All-Star Bucks forward Khris Middleton, a critical part of the club’s title run in 2021, was moved at the trade deadline to Washington. He published a social media post on Friday thanking fans in Milwaukee for the 12 years he spent with the team (Instagram link). “As I begin this new chapter, I’m excited for the opportunities ahead,” Middleton wrote in part. “But Milwaukee will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Athletic Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis is looking to establish himself nationally in the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘I’ve got a few dunks people have never seen before,’’ Buzelis said. ‘‘It should be fun.’’ According to Cowley, the 6’10” forward had been finessing his dunk portfolio over the last month with Zach LaVine, himself a two-time Slam Dunk champ, prior to the blockbuster deadline trade that sent LaVine to Sacramento.

NBA Names Four Replacements For Rising Stars Event

January 31st, 2025 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Three second-year players and one rookie have been named replacements for the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend in San Francisco, according to the NBA. The league issued a press release announcing the following changes:

Magic guard Anthony Black is replacing Mavericks center Dereck Lively.
Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara is replacing Hornets forward Brandon Miller.
Pistons swingman Ausar Thompson is replacing Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.
Suns wing Ryan Dunn is replacing Sixers guard Jared McCain.

We noted when the Rising Stars participants were officially revealed on Tuesday that a few replacements would be necessary. Lively is sidelined for an extended period due to a stress fracture in his ankle, while Miller and McCain underwent season-ending procedures on their right wrist and left knee, respectively.

Wembanyama is healthy, but was selected as an All-Star reserve for the Western Conference. Players who are named All-Stars don’t take part in the Rising Stars event.

Black, Camara, Thompson, and Dunn will be included in the 21-player pool of NBA rookies and sophomores who will be drafted into three teams of seven players apiece on February 4. Those three teams, along with a fourth club made up of seven G League standouts, will compete a mini-tournament on Friday, February 14 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night.

The squad that wins the Rising Stars event will advance to All-Star Sunday and take on one of three teams made up of NBA All-Stars in the semifinals of the new-look All-Star Game.

Central Notes: Williams, Buzelis, Jerome, Thompson

January 26th, 2025 at 3:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In the first season of a new five-year, $90MM contract, Bulls forward Patrick Williams has continued to struggle to carve out a consistent gig as a role player. Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic wonders if Williams’ window to prove he can effectively do so is closing.

With the Bulls’ third-leading scorer, Coby White, unavailable, Chicago was hoping for the 23-year-old to take on a bigger offensive role in a 109-97 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. Instead, he scored two points while shooting just 1-of-9 from the field and coughed up the ball in a critical possession with just over three minutes left in the game.

Following that turnover, head coach Billy Donovan quickly removed Williams from the lineup for the game’s final minutes, which has become increasingly common, Mayberry notes. In his fifth season, the 6’7″ pro is struggling both to finish at the rim and connect from long range for the 19-27 Bulls.

“He’s going to need to do that to continue to evolve,” Donovan said. “Earlier in his career, he never would have done any of that stuff. He would always defer and feel like, ‘I’m a young guy. I’ve just got to fit in.’ I think now he’s trying to do more, but we all want to have better results out of it.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Bulls rookie forward Matas Buzelis has played sparingly this season for Chicago thus far. The No. 11 overall pick has averaged just 12.7 minutes per game, which ranks 31st among first-year players. As Kyle Williams of The Chicago Sun-Times notes, Donovan doesn’t think Buzelis is capable of playing major minutes just yet. “[Buzelis] has to understand the things that go into winning, how he can impact winning and the things he has to do on a consistent basis,” the Bulls’ coach said.
Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome enjoyed a career night in a 132-129 loss to Philadelphia on Friday, scoring a personal-best 33 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 8-of-8 shooting from long range. He also went 3-of-4 from the foul line. As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com notes in a subscriber-only story, the 6’5″ guard’s big night wasn’t enough to help the club overcome the Sixers, but the 27-year-old is enjoying his best pro season since his 2020/21 run with the Thunder, averaging a career-best 10.8 points, plus 3.3 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per night.
Pistons forward Ausar Thompson, whose development was slowed by a blood clot issue that caused him to miss time at the end of 2023/24 and the start of this season, took a major step on Saturday, playing a season-high 29 minutes in a 121-113 loss to Orlando. Thompson, who scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, spoke after the game about gradually getting back to 100%, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “I feel great,” Thompson said. “It feels good to almost reach the 30-minute mark. I feel great, feel conditioned and however many minutes they need me to play, I’m ready to play.” Thompson has been on a minutes restriction for much of the season. Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff spoke glowingly of the second-year forward’s progress, Sankofa tweets. “His activity was great, his aggressiveness,” Bickerstaff said. “He was attacking the paint, making plays, rebounding the ball, four steals. I thought he did a great job of showing exactly who he is and how he can contribute to help this team win.”

Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Thompson, Billups

January 5th, 2025 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham scored a season-high 40 points against the Timberwolves in the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday. His aggressive approach is a good sign for a franchise on the upswing, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic writes. Detroit has won six of its last seven games.

“I’m trying to make the best basketball play available for the team at all times,” said Cunningham, who also had nine assists. “Sometimes confidence can get in the way of that, feeling like I’m in a groove or my shot is the best. But I’m just trying to make sure everybody is in a rhythm and everybody knows what’s going on. Getting everybody involved early. My teammates trust me so much with making plays that it’s a two-way street.”

We have more on the Pistons:

J.B. Bickerstaff has shown a willingness to challenge officiating calls and the players appreciate having their first-year coach back them up, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press writes. “You can see his passion on the floor,” big man Isaiah Stewart said. “When you have a coach that’s showing that kind of passion, standing the whole game, encouraging you mid-game, talking to you during the game, that just gives you a different kind of energy. It’s like, ‘OK, I got you coach. I’m going to play hard for you.’” Bickerstaff has used his coaches challenge regularly in recent weeks, including a successful one in the final minute of a close win over the Lakers.
In the first two games since Jaden Ivey suffered a fractured fibula, Bickerstaff has changed his starting lineup both times. He went with Wendell Moore against Charlotte, then switched to Ausar Thompson against Minnesota. Thompson may have earned a long look as a starter after posting 10 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-best six steals. “He had five steals in the first half. He got deflections, did a good job defensively, helps us play faster,” Bickerstaff said. “That was one of the things versus this team we wanted to do. We knew we needed to play faster and let out athletes kind of run and A.T. did that for us.”
Detroit can reach the .500 mark with a win over Portland on Monday. The Pistons also have something special planned for Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, who was the 2004 Finals Most Valuable Player when the Pistons won their last championship. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame during the offseason and the Pistons will celebrate his Detroit career with a video montage and other events. “I know the atmosphere will be a lot of fun,” Billups said. “They’ve got some things planned for me since I’m going back there for the first time since the Hall of Fame (induction).”
The Pistons are making several moves regarding their two-way contracts. Get the details here.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Pistons, Pacers, Bulls

January 3rd, 2025 at 3:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Donovan Mitchell‘s points per game (23.7), assists per game (4.6), shot attempts per game (18.3), and usage rate (30.1%) are all down from where they were last year, but the Cavaliers certainly haven’t missed that production from the star guard, winning 29 of their first 33 games this season.

As Brian Windhorst of ESPN details, Mitchell’s willingness to take a step back and defer to teammates has paid off in a major way — his three-point percentage is a career-best 41.5% and Cleveland has the NBA’s No. 1 offense (121.3 offensive rating).

“He was an All-NBA (caliber) player last year because of how much he did for them and having to play a lot at point guard,” an advance scout told Windhorst. “This year, he’s probably going to make All-NBA because he’s pulling back and encouraging his teammates to have bigger roles. … I’ll tell you what, they were a lot easier to defend last year when he was a one-man show.”

One reason for Mitchell’s dip in production is the fact that he’s averaging a career-low 31.5 minutes per game. As Windhorst explains, new head coach Kenny Atkinson helped develop a plan coming into the season to keep the five-time All-Star fresher and reduce the stress on his knee, which was an issue at times last season. It has paid off so far, as Mitchell has missed just one game and several of his teammates – including All-Star candidates Darius Garland and Evan Mobley – are enjoying career years.

“Donovan is so selfless and he empowers people. (Stephen Curry) is like this, too. They’re so positive, they know how to uplift others around them,” said Atkinson, a former Warriors assistant. “That’s the ultimate leader, right?”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Hunter Patterson of The Athletic explores how Jaden Ivey‘s extended absence due to a leg injury will affect the Pistons‘ rotation, while Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) posits that not having Ivey available will give the team an opportunity to experiment with lineups. Ausar Thompson and Malik Beasley are among the candidates to be promoted to the starting five, while Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore could see increased roles.
The Pacers are hovering around .500 after making the Eastern Conference Finals last season and project to be a taxpayer next season if they bring back starting center Myles Turner, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, who considers what the next move is for Indiana. A consolidation trade that moves out a couple of their higher-paid bench players may be in the Pacers’ best interests, Katz suggests.
After a week in which the Bulls needed overtime to beat the lowly Hornets and then were defeated by the lowlier Wizards, Joe Cowley calls out the front office in a column for The Chicago Sun-Times, arguing for roster changes sooner rather than later to ensure the team keeps its top-10 protected pick in the 2025 draft and adds a much-needed building block.

Eastern Notes: Middleton, Sheppard, Nesmith, Thompson, Harris

December 17th, 2024 at 5:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Khris Middleton is now listed as doubtful to play in the NBA Cup final between the Bucks and Thunder tonight due to an illness, ESPN’s Jamal Collier tweets. Middleton had been listed as probable on Monday. Middleton has only appeared in four games this season after undergoing surgery on both ankles during the offseason.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Pacers guard Ben Sheppard, who has missed the last 14 games with a strained left oblique, participated in a live practice on Tuesday, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star reports. Coach Rick Carlisle remains uncertain when Sheppard will return to action, though it could happen soon. “He’s making progress,” Carlisle said. “(He’ll be back) sometime in the not-too-distant future, we hope. He went through some things. He’s been doing some contact work. He’s getting closer and he’s been able to do things without any setbacks to this point. We won’t know about today until tomorrow.” Forward Aaron Nesmith, who has been out since Nov. 1 with a left ankle sprain, is also making progress but has not returned to live action, Dopirak adds.
Pistons second-year forward Ausar Thompson on Monday delivered his finest performance of the season, supplying 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and a block in 27 minutes during the club’s overtime win against Miami. Thompson, who started in place of injured Tobias Harris, seems to be rounding into form after being medically cleared from a blood clotting issue and making his season debut on Nov. 25. “I thought he was really good on both ends of the floor and I think there’s more to come,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff told Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press.
Magic guard Gary Harris participated in practice Tuesday, according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. The veteran guard has missed the last nine games with a left hamstring strain. “We’ll see how he responds, but as of right now just watching him walk off the court he looks OK,” coach Jamahl Mosley said.

Central Notes: Ivey, Thompson, Middleton, Haliburton

November 26th, 2024 at 8:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jaden Ivey is eligible for a rookie scale extension after this season and the Pistons guard has bounced back from a subpar sophomore campaign. With Cade Cunningham sidelined by a hip injury, Ivey scored the game-winner against Toronto on Monday. He finished with 25 points and eight assists and is now averaging 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game on the season.

“(Ivey) played a complete basketball game (Monday),” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “He’s good enough to do it again and again. He’s just got to trust it like he does and keep putting the confidence in the work that he’s put in.

“… For me, it wasn’t just that last shot. He was phenomenal to start the game and for all of his minutes, setting the tone and attacking when he needed to be aggressive. But I thought he did an unbelievable job of playing the complete floor (Monday), making sure his teammates were involved, getting us organized. Just from a point guard perspective, that was a huge step for JI.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Pistons second-year forward Ausar Thompson made his season debut on Monday. He was medically cleared to play this month after his rookie campaign was cut short by blood clotting issues. He had five points, four assists and three rebounds. “I was able to play free,” Thompson said. “I’ve done a lot of conditioning over the past eight months. It was just, first game in eight months. 260-something days. Just don’t know what to expect. And first time playing with a new coach. My guys had my back, they showed me what to do out there. Just played basketball.”
Khris Middleton, who has yet to make his season debut for the Bucks, participated in full 5-on-5 scrimmages on Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (video link). Middleton, who is recovering from an ankle injury, been cleared medically to play and the club is hopeful he’ll return to action shortly after Thanksgiving.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton made nine 3-pointers on Monday and has now knocked down 18-of-39 attempts in his last three games, breaking out of a perimeter slump. Even with the recent surge, he’s only made 32.9% of his long-range attempts this season. “I think my individual performance and how I view that, I mean, if we’re winning, I really don’t care. I’ve been frustrated with myself because I feel like the games we’ve been losing, if I was myself, then we would be winning. I care more about us winning than what my numbers are looking like necessarily. But obviously, it feels good to see the ball go in,” he told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.

Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Thompson, Stewart, Trades

November 24th, 2024 at 5:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cade Cunningham missed Saturday’s loss to Orlando and his Pistons teammates struggled to fill the huge void. Detroit had more turnovers than assists in the 11-point loss while Cunningham sat out with a hip injury.

“Obviously those injuries are tough when you take a blow to the tailbone-ish area. That’s the core of where your movement starts. He’s obviously pretty sore, but feels like he’s improving. We’ll just take it day by day and see how he gets better,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press.

Cunningham was injured during the late going of Detroit’s game against Charlotte on Thursday. He’s listed as doubtful to play on Monday against Toronto, Sankofa tweets.

We have more on the Pistons:

Ausar Thompson is no longer on the injury report and is positioned to make his season debut as soon as Monday. Thompson’s rookie season was short-circuited by blood clotting issues. The second-year forward could impact the team defensively, as Hunter Patterson of The Athletic describes in detail. Thompson’s return will likely mean reduced minutes for Wendell Moore Jr., rookie Ron Holland and Simone Fontecchio, Patterson notes.
Isaiah Stewart is receiving more minutes at center this season and prefers that role, compared to being a stretch four, he told Forbes contributor Mat Issa. “I love being back at center on offense,” Stewart said. “Playing at the power forward spot, I wasn’t really involved in too many actions. At the center spot, I’m constantly setting screens and using my body.”
In Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois’ latest mailbag post, he predicts the odds of a significant in-season move being pretty low, less than 20 percent. While there might be a minor move near the trade deadline that could net a second-round pick or two, Langlois doubts the front office will be particularly active this season.

Central Notes: LaVine, Cavs, Haliburton, Q. Jackson, A. Thompson

November 21st, 2024 at 6:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Zach LaVine discourse during the 2024 offseason focused less on what the Bulls guard was capable of doing on the court and more on potential red flags off of it, including his injury history, his sizable contract, and his relationship with head coach Billy Donovan. Speaking to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports earlier this week, LaVine admitted it was impossible to ignore that chatter.

“I heard everything. I read everything,” LaVine said. “Sometimes you gotta take that accountability and put a chip on your shoulder. There’s a lot of things people said I had to prove. I think my résumé speaks for itself, the type of player I am, the type of person I am, but it is what it is. You can always turn some heads.”

While there’s still some skepticism about whether LaVine is worth the $138MM he’s owed from this season through 2026/27, he has done all he can to silence his critics so far this fall, repairing his relationship with Donovan, staying relatively healthy, and playing some of the best basketball of his career. His 51.2% shooting percentage and 43.2% mark on three-pointers would be career highs if he can maintain them, and he has been a more active defender than in past seasons.

As for his contract, LaVine won’t apologize for taking the five-year, maximum-salary offer the Bulls made him in 2021, telling Goodwill that he believes he earned that deal.

“I don’t know,” LaVine said. “It’s not for me to try to make everybody like me. I’m happy for what I got, what I deserved. And some people may not feel that way and you may judge it off that. But regardless, I know who I am and what I’ve done in this league.

“… I’m in a good place and I feel sharp right now,” LaVine added. “Being able to be one of the veteran guys on the team and still being able to do what I do. Help win in any way I can. Defense one day, facilitating, whatever they call for.”

We have more from around the Central:

The Cavaliers‘ loss on Tuesday to the defending champion Celtics snapped their 15-game win streak to start the season, but the three-point defeat only emboldened the team’s belief in its itself, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). Chris Mannix of SI.com conveys as similar sentiment, writing that the measuring-stick loss proved the Cavs are for real. Cleveland bounced back with a 28-point blowout of the Pelicans on Wednesday and is now a league-best 16-1.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton continued to struggle on Wednesday, scoring just four points on 1-of-7 shooting as the team was outscored by 28 points in his 30 minutes on the floor, notes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Haliburton, who is in the first season of a five-year, maximum-salary contract, is making just 37.5% of his field goal attempts through 15 games, including 28.4% of his three-pointers. Both would be career lows by a wide margin.
The Pacers dropped to 6-9 with Wednesday’s loss to Houston, but it wasn’t all bad news for Indiana. Two-way player Quenton Jackson made his first career start and made an immediate impact, scoring 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting. “Quenton Jackson is an example of where we need everybody’s spirit to be,” head coach Rick Carlisle said, per Dopirak. “The guy is flying all over the place, playing at a ridiculously high level of intensity and unselfishness and totally surrendering to the team, you know? … For us, we just have to work at adopting that on a full-time basis and really being there for each other.”
The Pistons aren’t rushing the return of Ausar Thompson, who has yet to make his season debut after dealing with a blood clot issue, but Zach LaVine‘s performance in a Bulls win over Detroit on Monday was a reminder of how the team could benefit from reintegrating a defensive stopper like Thompson, says Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “He’s a guy who can eliminate the other team’s best players,” J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Any time you add that to the system and the scheme and the way guys have bought into it, it just gives you an added boost. He can switch, he can guard multiple positions. We’re excited to have him back for sure.” Thompson is listed as doubtful to play in Charlotte on Thursday but is believed to be close to returning.

Eastern Notes: Nets Vets, Johnson, Thompson, Mathurin

November 11th, 2024 at 7:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have been surprisingly competitive during the early going and they have veterans Dennis Schröder, Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith to thank for it, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Schröder entered Monday’s game against the Pelicans fifth in the league in minutes logged at 352. Johnson was tied for 13th (340), while Finney-Smith is fourth on the team at 289, Lewis notes. Finney-Smith missed the game with an ankle sprain, Lewis tweets.

That trio headed into the week averaging a combined 47.5 points per game. Any or all of them could end up getting dealt before February’s trade deadline.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Johnson headed into Monday’s contest with an impressive streak, Lewis notes. He hadn’t turned the ball over in any of the past seven games, making him the first player in NBA history to log at least 30 minutes without a giveaway in a seven-game stretch. He has never averaged more than 1.1 turnover per game in any season. That could be underrated aspect of his appeal as a trade candidate. Johnson has two more years left after this season on his four-year, $90MM+ contract.
Pistons forward Ausar Thompson, who had been sidelined by blood clotting issues, has been officially cleared to return to action by the NBA’s Fitness-to-Play panel. The team will slowly ramp up his workload as he prepares for his season debut, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press reports. Thompson is thrilled by the decision. “It feels great,” Thompson said. “The last seven to eight months have been a lot of work, and I had all the support from my family and team. Feels good to have the opportunity to go out there and play again.”
Bennedict Mathurin is eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer and the third-year swingman is enhancing his resume with his early-season performances. He led the banged-up Pacers to a win over the Knicks on Sunday with a career-best 38 points. “Benn Mathurin was absolutely breathtaking,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Efficient. Tough physically. … When he gets it going like he does today, he’s a bucket. He’s gonna be a bucket.” Mathurin is averaging 23.0 points and 7.6 rebounds in five starts.

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