After last season’s surprising playoff run, the Detroit Pistons are still refining how they want to structure their offense around franchise guard Cade Cunningham.
One experiment they’ve leaned into during the preseason, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic, involves shifting more ball-handling responsibility to third-year wing Ausar Thompson.
Last season, Thompson’s touches typically came in transition or on cuts to the basket, finishing plays rather than initiating them. This year, the Pistons are giving him more control in the half-court to evaluate his playmaking instincts and ability to manipulate defenses.
“That’s something we’re going to do more of,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff explained. “The tempo that [Thompson] plays at when he has the ball in his hands, and the threat that he becomes when he has the ball in his hands changes the way that teams have to guard him. He has the ability to make his teammates better.”
Patterson notes that Thompson’s combination of speed, power, and sharp first steps makes him uniquely dangerous when he’s attacking with the ball.
His ability to shift gears and drive through contact has given the coaching staff confidence to explore this expanded role.
Part of the strategy is also to free up Cunningham when defenses apply heavy pressure.
“Teams decide they want to pick Cade up full court, and sometimes because of the gravity he holds, people just hug up on him,” Bickerstaff said. “Now his defender has to play off a screen or off a shift, and it just makes him a better offensive player when people can’t get their hands on him to wrestle and hold him.”
Cunningham himself backed the idea, saying Thompson’s development as a secondary initiator could become a major asset.
“Ausar is a guy who can initiate offense at a high level,” Cunningham said. “Giving him room to get more and more comfortable with it as the preseason goes along, I think that’ll be a big weapon for us.”
Ausar Thompson has been given expanded ball-handling duties, plus more on the Pistons. https://t.co/9XyKjMpU8R
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) October 13, 2025
