Detroit Pistons: 3 Reasons to believe in the future of the young core

Ausar Thompson is more than the box score

A few years ago, there was this idea in the basketball community that you could tell whether or not someone had serious knowledge of the game by asking them one simple question: how good is Draymond Green?

Now that Draymond is past his prime, we need someone else who can serve as a litmus test for whether a person is “box score watching” meaning they are basing their opinions by just looking at the box score and not watching the games or doing any in-depth research. Ausar Thompson might just be the guy for this because he is the definitive “underwhelming stats, great impact” type of player at the moment.

Some fans may believe that Ausar is struggling because he is averaging just six points per game on 35.8% true shooting, which is well below the league average. His scoring has not been great by any means and his shooting percentages are pretty poor across the board. Luckily for him, scoring isn’t the only thing that matters and there are a variety of ways to impact the game.

While Ausar is struggling to put the ball in the basket, he has been great everywhere else. He is averaging five assists to just two turnovers, his rebound rates are phenomenal for a guard/wing, and his block rate is a blistering 5.6%. He is adjusting to a different role, playing off the ball next to Cade Cunningham, but he’s been extremely effective despite his poor shooting.

He’s been very good as a passer while limiting turnovers, his rebounding is remarkable, and he is defending at a very high level. Players who can do all of this at a high level are extremely valuable in the NBA!

To make things even better, there are reasons to be optimistic about his scoring moving forward. He is currently shooting below 40% from 0-3 feet, which is terrible but unsustainable. Ausar was a great finisher in the Overtime Elite league and he should improve in this area moving forward.

Also, his perimeter shooting has been a bit of a disaster so far, but he is shooting 75% from the free-throw line. He hasn’t attempted a ton of free throws this season, but there is a possibility that his shooting will improve moving forward.

Ausar Thompson is a fascinating player who will criticized by some fans due to his underwhelming production as a scorer. However, his impact goes beyond his points per game and true shooting. He’s been awesome and fans will fall in love with him once he learns how to shoot and score.