🏀Front Office2026-27
 
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OVR

Ausar Thompson

Detroit Pistons · #9 · Plus starter
SF6'7"205 lbage 233 yrs expOakland, CA
2nd best of 13 on DETworth +3.9 wins to the rotation
OFF70DEF90
Elite perimeter defender & rim protector
DET
Detroit Pistons
Eastern · Central · proj. 40-42 (▲+4.7)
→
All-Defensive2025-26: DPOY finalist

An elite, switchable defensive weapon who made All-Defensive first team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting — 99th-percentile perimeter defense, 90th at the rim, and 2.0 steals a night from a wing. He's a freak athlete who finishes inside at 52.5% but has no jumper yet (6th percentile shooting, 25% from three), which is the one thing standing between him and stardom.

9.9
PPG
5.7
RPG
3.1
APG
2
SPG
0.9
BPG
GP 73MPG 26FG% 52.53P% 25FT% 57.1TS% 54.5USG% 16.9PER 16.2BPM +3.1VORP 2.4EPM +2.0
2025-26 regular season · bars are percentile at his position

NBA player ratings

0–99 · 2025-26 form
Perimeter defense99
Rim protection97
Rebounding89
Playmaking86
Inside finishing69
Scoring65
Shooting51

Skill ratings are 2025-26 per-game and advanced stats (Basketball-Reference) ranked 0–99 within position (guards vs guards, bigs vs bigs). Overall is anchored to EPM impact on a non-linear curve, nudged by these skills; Offense and Defense come from box plus-minus. A player who missed the latest season is shown from his most recent one.

Career

2023-24 to 2025-26 · 3 seasons
9.6
PPG
5.8
RPG
2.5
APG
195
GAMES
Points 1,871Win Shares 11.3Starts 158Best season 2025-26 · 9.9 ppg
Games played, last three seasons79%

Regular season, 2003-04 onward (Basketball-Reference). Averages are weighted by games played; honours count awards won, not finishes. “Current players” means the 802 who played in the last three seasons.

Trajectory

2023-24 → 2025-26 · age 21 → 23
▲Rising

Ausar, at 23, is on a clear upward trajectory — 1.0 → 5.6 wins of value over the window.

Age curve▲ Ahead of curve
Developing faster than a typical player his age.
2026-27 forecast▲ 6.3 wins (+0.7)
Age should add a little at 24. Range 5.4–7.2 wins.
Production (BPM)-2.2 → +3.1+5.326-27 forecast +2.1
His per-possession game has clearly sharpened.
2023-24: -2.2 · 63 games2024-25: +1.7 · 59 games2025-26: +3.1 · 73 games2026-27: +2.1 (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Value to team (wins)1.0 → 5.6+4.726-27 forecast 6.3
He's worth more wins to a team than he was.
2023-24: 1.0 · 63 games2024-25: 3.4 · 59 games2025-26: 5.6 · 73 games2026-27: 6.3 (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Contract value2026-27: worth $31.0M vs $11.1M salary+$19.9M
His play is projected to be worth more than he is paid.
$11.1M salary2023-24: $2.8M · 63 games2024-25: $7.9M · 59 games2025-26: $22.8M · 73 games2026-27: $31.0M (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Current deal: $11,117,925 cap hit · through '27. On the contract row the flat dashed line is this salary, so the gap to the 2026-27 forecast is the surplus.

Seasons from Basketball-Reference (2023-24 → 2025-26). Production is box plus-minus, a per-possession measure. Value is VORP-based wins, so it also counts games played. Contract value is what each season’s play would fetch on the open market. The dotted 2026-27 point is a forecast: his established level, a year older, assuming a normal season.

Contract

2026-27
$11,117,925Team option
7% of the club’s payroll · 5th of 15 priced deals
Runs through1 season
Est. market value$30,980,000 /yr
Surplus+$19,862,075
BARGAINworth more than he is paid

Market value is an estimate, not a reported figure: what his play is forecast to fetch on the open market in 2026-27 — his current rating, a year older. Cap thresholds are projected for 2026-27 until the league sets them.

2026-27 off-season

1 move

OFFICIAL means the league’s own records carry the move; AGREED means a trusted insider reported it and the league has not processed it yet. Terms and attribution come from the wire, which is the only source that carries them.

Plays like

same position

Nearest skill profiles across the seven rating axes — who he plays like, not who is as good. The rating beside each name answers that second question.