Chris
DETROIT — Troy Weaver wants what everyone wants. He wants to build a winner here. He knows what most of us know, too: It won’t happen without one key ingredient. “We aren’t the Pistons until we defend,” Weaver insisted Monday, on the eve of his fourth training camp as the team’s general manager. “I’ve never seen any turnaround in any sport without defense being a central focus of that. And for us to be the team we want to become, defense will be at the forefront of that.
And yet, among all the reasons to think this season might be where the Pistons’ turnaround really takes off — a new head coach in Monty Williams, a healthy star in Cade Cunningham, improved depth with veteran additions like Monte Morris and Joe Harris — there’s also an element that’d be easy to overlook. If only because it’s one we haven’t seen yet, other than a brief glimpse in the NBA Summer League a few months ago.
It’s rookie Ausar Thompson, the fifth-overall pick in June’s draft, who may actually hold the key to unlocking this young team’s potential this season and beyond. Because it’s his defensive versatility — his utility — that might finally allow some of the other pieces Weaver has assembled over the last few years to fall into place. And while it might seem silly to say that about a 20-year-old wing who never even played college ball, there’s a reason why Weaver actually laughs when he’s asked if he thinks Thompson is ready to be an immediate contributor. It’s the same reason Williams might feel the urge to insert him in the Pistons’ starting lineup when the regular season tips off Oct. 25 in Miami. “Defensively, I mean, I think he’ll be ready,” Weaver chuckled Monday.
Some of Thompson’s new teammates are taking it a step further after spending the last few months working out together and playing pickup games in the gym — first in Las Vegas, then in Los Angeles and more recently in Detroit. “He’s a great defender — athletic, strong, big body,” said Alec Burks, a 13-year NBA veteran at shooting guard. “And I think he’s ready to guard the best players in the league on a nightly basis.
The Pistons, as we know, haven’t had a player capable of doing that in years. And coupled with the youth movement that began in earnest after Weaver arrived and began overhauling the roster a few years ago, that’s probably the single biggest reason why Detroit has found itself at the bottom of the NBA standings. Last season, they posted the fourth-worst defensive rating in the league. “I’ve said it countless times: You can’t shoot your way out of a hole,” Weaver said. Of course, they will need to shoot it better than they have to avoid getting buried by some of the league’s best teams. And as Williams tries to figure out a playing rotation that could easily run 10 deep this fall — or more specifically, as he tries to balance the floor-spacing around Cunningham in the starting unit — he may ultimately decide Thompson is best-suited coming off the bench for now. Maybe it’s a lineup of Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovich, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren to start, and Thompson running with the second unit, where his strengths may be even more highlighted. But I wouldn’t pencil that in just yet. Again, just listen to Thompson’s teammates.
