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Bobby Marks: The Thompson brothers (Amen and Ausar) now have a combined $439m in on court earnings. The salary ranks first among all twins.
Shams Charania: Twins Ausar and Amen Thompson are now the first pair of brothers in NBA history to each receive a $100 million deal. They have signed for a total of $363 million this offseason.
According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, there is currently growing optimism surrounding potential extensions for Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson and Charlotte Hornets wing Brandon Miller, with both players expected to continue discussions with their respective teams.
Oh No He Didn't: Shams on rookie extensions for the rest of the 2023 draft class: "I'm told there is optimism with an Ausar Thompson extension in Detroit. And then I would also keep an eye on Cason Wallace, Brandin Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez...and Anthony Black who's also a high draft pick in that class. But I would look at both Brandon Miller and Ausar Thompson to have more and more conversations with their respective teams, the Hornets and the Pistons, in the upcoming days and weeks"
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Michael Porter Jr: "My energy output this last year was so much higher than in Denver because of how much I was relied on and the defenders I had on me. Every team's putting their best defender on me. I'm going from Ausar Thompson to Jaden McDaniels to this guy to that guy every game. My energy output, I just think I got to really work on like Steph does, really being in shape, so all game I can just move off the ball. I think I could be the best off-ball player in the NBA because I'm good at cutting around the rim. My finish percentage around the rim is like real high. And then, you know, catch and shoot threes and things like that. I think if I'm in good shape, I could be the best off-ball player in the NBA. So I think that's the main thing off the court. And then on the court, I think getting in that mid-post, face up, when stuff gets tough at the end of the game, mid-post face up, not a ton of dribbles, you know, one-dribble pull-up, jab shot. I think I got to master that a little bit better."
Tim McMahon: ‘But the biggest question I have got about the Pistons is what is going to be the lingering cloud when this whole Jalen Duren situation gets finalized or at least temporarily settled. Is he going to sign an extension? I don't know. But this has been an awfully nasty negotiation and so I have got real concerns there because I understand they believe Ausar Thompson is their second-best player, but Jalen Duren was an All-NBA player for them last year. He was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. You can certainly criticize the playoff performance, but he was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. And you know, I don't know him. I don't really have a great feel for kind of his temperament or anything like that, but sometimes these negotiations when they are ugly like this can have long-lasting consequences.’
If Jalen Duren’s negotiations drag on as long as they can, how would that affect Ausar Thompson’s potential rookie-scale extension? John Hollinger: I see two dominoes here. First, the Pistons need to know what Duren’s number will be on their books in 2028 and 2029 before they can finalize their cap planning and determine their best path for Thompson’s next deal. Second, there is an important question of which player they value more, one that will play out rather publicly if Thompson inks an extension shortly after Duren’s deal is completed. Of course, it’s possible that, as with Duren, Detroit doesn’t agree with Thompson on an extension and he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
Fullcourtpass: There’s a lot of people within the Pistons organization that view Ausar Thompson as the second best player on the team and not Jalen Duren, per @VinceGoodwill This has affected Duren negotiations with the Pistons
Marc Stein: "The priorities for the Pistons this summer is to re-sign Duren and to do an extension with Ausar Thompson. And we haven't even talked about restricted free agency that there are some really good restricted free agents. Duren, your guy Peyton Watson, Walker Kessler, who of course we know the Lakers would love to try to acquire if possible."
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"We all want to get better," he said. "I can’t stand here and say we don’t want to get better, so getting better means you’ve gotta win the second round to get better. It doesn’t necessarily mean we need to win 64 games, I don’t think we’re trying to do that though if we do that would be fantastic. But I think we know that we need to be more equipped to compete in the postseason and that’s what we’re looking at doing. Like I already said, it’s adding pieces that help accentuate our three best players, our core three players, and I think that will help us in the regular season and postseason as well. That all goes into the belief we feel like we can be better."
Omari Sankofa II: Langdon smiled when asked about extension talks with Duren and Thompson: "There haven’t been, at this point … and to be honest you’ll never know how those conversations are going."
NBA Communications: The 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team: ▪️ Rudy Gobert, @Timberwolves ▪️ Chet Holmgren, @okcthunder ▪️ Ausar Thompson, @DetroitPistons ▪️ Victor Wembanyama, @spurs ▪️ Derrick White, @celtics
