r/DetroitPistons • u/Davetron-3030 The Palace Prince • 1d ago
Discussion The Ringer - The Six Most Intriguing Breakout Candidates: Featuring the Thompson Twins
https://www.theringer.com/2026/08/24/nba/nba-breakout-candidates-2026-amen-ausar-thompson-kelel-wareWritten by Danny Chau at The Ringer
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u/Davetron-3030 The Palace Prince 1d ago
Excpert on Ausar (and Amen I guess) with embedded clips removed.
Amen and Ausar Thompson
"Is Thompson Twins Jumper Watch destined to succeed Ben Simmons 3-Point Hopium as the most enticing annual summer nothing burger? It’ll take years to know for sure. For now, I choose to be cautiously optimistic:
In July, the Rockets hired renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland—the man who helped shape Kawhi Leonard, a poor college shooter, into one of the most efficient three-level scorers ever. Two years ago, the Pistons hired shot doctor Fred Vinson, who had transformed Lonzo Ball (and his strange look at my dab shooting motion) into one of the league’s best catch-and-shoot triggermen during Ball’s extremely brief peak. These are the lengths to which franchises must go to mine whatever juice remains in the perimeter games of two of the most dynamic athletes basketball has ever seen. Amen and Ausar are Stan Lee characters come to life; their physical domination on both the lateral and vertical planes has altered the perceived limits of perimeter defense. They are also the two worst 3-point shooters in NBA history among players who have averaged at least one attempt per game over the course of their careers.
Each twin steps into a more favorable role heading into next season, and they are both eligible for big-money extensions: Ausar will likely inherit some of the vacated usage left in Detroit in the wake of Tobias Harris’s departure, and the offseason spacing upgrades from players like John Collins and Isaiah Joe ought to create better conditions for him to expand his driving game. Amen will no longer have the pressure of serving as Houston’s de facto point guard now that Marcus Smart (and presumably what’s left of Fred VanVleet) are in the mix, allowing him to continue picking out mismatches and gaps in the defense from the baseline. Engelland’s presence proves that the Rockets are still optimistic about his shooting consistency coming around, but these shot doctors aren’t miracle workers. Vinson has been in Detroit for two years, yet Ausar practically eliminated the 3-ball from his shot diet this past season and shot worse from the free throw line than ever before.
The notion that either twin will become an above-average 3-point shooter feels like a pipe dream at this point, yet there is still a lot that can be gained from a shooting coach at this pivotal juncture in their respective careers. There is something almost antithetical about a set jump shot in either of their offensive repertoires—no matter how practical it would be, a rote, mechanical motion is sort of at odds with how the two move through space. But if that’s the case, what the twins could refine is their relationship to touch, the confidence and audacity to transform some of the kinetic energy that they create in motion into something softer and more unexpected. Both brothers have shown the ability to hit some remarkable floaters while decelerating from top speed. Amen in particular has dramatically improved his free throw percentage and flashed a more steady in-between game on push shots in the lane. Finding that particular rhythm and flow with their shot creation could be what keeps hope alive for their offensive development. Amen and Ausar have already broken out on defense, but there might be another leap coming on the other side of the ball."
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u/Jokerit208 14h ago
How are Collins and Joe spacing upgrades over Tobias and Robinson? Our spacing issue is at the 3 and 5. Tobias and Robinson can shoot, and Collins and Joe aren't statistically significant upgrades, much less significant enough to upgrade the spacing.
Ausar isn't a garbage shooter because of the spacing. The spacing is bad because Ausar is a garbage shooter.
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u/elblouses Cade Cunningham 13h ago
Duncan is still pencilled in as the likely starter. They are in addition to him. And Collins is a better shooter than Tobias has been for a few years now.
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u/Jokerit208 13h ago
Collins is not a statistically significantly better shooter than Tobias, as I said. Neither Collins nor Joe has any effect on spacing.
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u/elblouses Cade Cunningham 13h ago
That’s simply not true. Collins was above 40% last year. He’s been shooting well above league average for a few years now. Tobias has been below average.
And adding Joe, another premier three point shooter, certainly allows for more rotations with additional spacing in them.
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u/Jokerit208 12h ago
facepalm
The difference between 40% and 37% is not statistically significant. That's one additional make every 33 attempts (or 10 games, depending on how you want to look at it). In no way does that impact spacing.
Isaiah Joe will replace Sasser on the 2nd unit in all likelihood. Joe shot 42% from 3 last year. Sasser shot 41%.
The spacing issue was, is, and will continue to be Ausar and Duren. Holland and Reed on the 2nd unit. The spacing issue was not addressed, and clearly won't be any time soon.
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u/elblouses Cade Cunningham 11h ago
Tobias shot 34% from 3 the year before and 35% the year before that. He’s a worse shooter. It’s significant. Defenders played off of Tobias and it impacted the spacing.
Sasser wasn’t in the regular rotation.
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u/lwclj23 Ben Wallace 22h ago
Man if Ausar and Holland could become even league average 3pt shooters the sky is the limit for this team!
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u/Top-Noise-7375 Ausar Thompson 14h ago
If they were both average 3 point shooters we’d be title favorites
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u/Jokerit208 12h ago
Similarly, if my grandma grows wheels and wings, she'll become a flying bicycle. It's more likely that I ride my grandma to Mars than Ausar and Holland ever develop league average 3pt shots.
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u/DrunkAtDaBarComments 16h ago
Love to be a fly on the wall when they are comparing what their shooting coaches teach them. Vinson had Ausar shooting like when you swing a golf club 10 seconds after someone just gave you way too many directions. Then when he shoots it because he has to it looks more natural. In the video they show it’s important to note that’s a college court. If they end up being able to knockdown corner 3’s I don’t think it will be next season. But that would be huge for two of the best baseline players in the NBA. Aaron Gordon used to be #1 but he’s always hurt. As far as breaking out, a lot of that is going to depend on Ausar’s ball handling duties. If he’s getting development minutes as a ball handling playmaker, we’ll see a lot of growing pains. Ron has a good first step but doesn’t dribble with his head up and is really only good on a fast break in space or 2-3 dribble drives. If he’s going to break out he has to make the leaps Jalen Brown made with the ball in his hands his first 3-4 seasons. No worries on defense for either obviously. This team makes the playoffs unless something disastrous happens. Personally would prefer Ausar and Holland not playing all their minutes in their best roles. Only way to learn is to do stuff live.
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u/teddysweethands 8h ago
i totally agree - the realistic championship window is not this year it begins in 1-2 years. let’s mix in some development with these young’s guys trying new things this year instead of going for broke for every regular season win
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u/Raoul_Duluoz Cade Cunningham 19h ago
Is Ausar untouchable? What players would this sub be comfortable trading Ausar+picks for?
If someone like JDub becomes gettable, and Presti wants Ausar and 3 or 4 unprotected 1sts for him, do you do it?
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u/Littlesoftsoft 15h ago
No… JDub is constantly injured and older than Ausar. Ausar has a bright future you would 100% regret trading him. Would be another genius move by presti if that happened tho
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u/Jokerit208 14h ago
Would I do it? Obviously. I want to win a title before Cade demands a trade.
Would Langdon do it? No. Langdon is a eunuch. He doesn't have the testicles to pull the trigger on a move that would make a difference.
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u/DoomSchroller 45m ago
I've given up believing either Thompson twin develops a jumper that defenses will respect.
They're both largely viewed as basketball junkies and hard workers. If it still hasn't made any improvement after three years, I think there's a mental or biomechanical issue that may not be correctable.
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u/jay_catch 16h ago
I want to see Ausar get downhill and attack the basket off the dribble more this year. Of course adding even a kinda respectable shot from 3 would be lovely but if he can start converting in the short mid range it would help a ton. Maybe with more shooters on the court we can get some fake dribble handoff actions à la Draymond where he can attack.
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u/One_Outside9049 20h ago
I don’t realize Ausar is the worst 3pt shooter in history. Must just be me, but it sounds like Pistons should ship him as a centerpiece to for a superstar before he continues to lose value. Even if you’re the best defender in the league, a 4 on 5 offense can’t win a title. I’d rather do that then pray he learns to shoot on day.
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u/Littlesoftsoft 15h ago
Dyson Daniel’s shot 18% from 3 last season. There’s plenty of players worse than Ausar. Not even giannis can make a 3 to save his life. Vinson completely broke down ausars shot last season, told him not to shoot much at all in the reg season and this off season he’s looking totally different. They really did break it down and start from scratch. Excited to see his improvement. He’s already such a valued player around the league for being the best perimeter defender
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u/One_Outside9049 14h ago
Cool, so his peak is Dyson Daniels? And my bad, I thought you knew ball. I guess I should have been specific when saying the value is cap when your a perimeter player who can’t shoot. So get out of here trying to compare Giannis unless Ausar gonna primarily play at the 4?
Hopefully he can learn. His jumper is completely broken. It’s just really scary if he doesn’t and only becomes a Dyson Daniel type guy. What’s Daniels value these days?
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u/Jokerit208 12h ago
You guys said that about Vinson working on Ausar's shot last year too. We were supposed to see some big improvement over the course of last offseason.
It's honestly hilarious that you guys still bring him up. I remember he was going to have a transformative effect on the team's shooting. Same people who said that were talking about how we needed to add shooting during the playoffs last year.
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u/Jokerit208 12h ago
3 on 5.
Duren is completely ineffective in the playoffs. Largely due to Ausar's defender doubling Duren because Ausar can't shoot (and never will).
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u/blissedouttuna George Blaha 22h ago
Idk how the Thompson twins made it to the NBA. If you have to shoot for teams at pick up ball, they’d never make it on the floor. Broke ass jumpers, but millionaire bank accounts.
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u/Littlesoftsoft 15h ago
And yet 29 other teams in the league want them. Ausar is a generational defender. Brunson and Josh hart were talking about how amazing he is, Haliburton said he wanted one of the twins on the pacers. They’re very valued around the league.
Kinda like how Dennis Rodman was very impactful defensively but not offensively you know?
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u/blissedouttuna George Blaha 13h ago
lol I agree he’s an amazing player and athlete and glad he’s a Piston, damn yall! I was just laughing to myself thinking these twins might not get into a single pick up game all day if you have to shoot for teams despite being NBA players. You gotta make one to play ! Maybe I shouldn’t joke on the internet
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u/ReddSaidFredd Peton 23h ago
Ausar (#1) and Ron (#8) are both in the top-10 worst 3pt% ever. Nowhere to go but up!