It’s not too early to believe in Ausar Thompson, Monty Williams and the Pistons

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.

The Detroit Pistons may not win a ton of games next season but it already looks like they might be one of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA.

Detroit’s first preseason game of the year was against the Phoenix Suns. Despite trailing by as many as 26 points at one point in the match, the Pistons managed to claw back and force overtime.

While it was excellent to see former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham back on the court for the first time in eleven months, Pistons rookie Ausar Thompson stole the show.

The wing, selected at No. 5 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, led the way on the court. He managed 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block during the performance.

Ausar Thompson full highlights from preseason debut:

12 PTS | 10 REB | 6 AST | 1 BLK 📈

The passing ability, perimeter defense, rebounding tenacity … oh and the game-tying 3 … he flashed it all 🚀 pic.twitter.com/HUTNmA2Ikf

— Jack Kelly (@jack_kelly_313) October 9, 2023

During the offseason, the Pistons hired former Suns head coach Monty Williams to one of the most lucrative coaching contacts in American sports.

Williams helped turn the Suns from one of the league’s bottom dwellers to a title contender, earning a trip to the 2021 NBA Finals. The Suns had a .232 win percentage the year before Williams arrived and within his second year on the job, they had a .708 win percentage. That was the highest percentage increase of any two-year period in franchise history.

Just listen to Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson, who had glowing reviews about his experience playing for Williams, explain why (via The Old Man & The Three):

“The way that he’s able to communicate, the way that he’s able to teach, really flattens out that learning curve a lot to the point where you know exactly what he wants. He communicates it to you and he’s a stickler for details which is huge for [the] habits of a young player. He’s on top of every detail and he’ll hold you accountable. […] I didn’t want to let him down. I think those are the coaches that you respond to best. […] Every thing I’ve heard is that they’re a hungry group willing to buy into what he has and if you buy in, he can turn teams around quick.”

The forward also praised Williams’ ability to draw up plays that can create easy buckets.

Johnson specifically mentioned Cunningham and Jalen Duren as two players who stood out to him on the USA Select Team.

Williams could help the development of Thompson, Cunningham and Duren as well as other emerging players for Detroit like Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes, Marvin Bagley and James Wiseman.

The coach is clearly preaching ball movement, already implementing his ‘0.5’ offensive system and a much faster pace than what we saw from the Pistons last season.

Overall, this is a team loaded with talent and they could potentially surprise some fans this season.

To Mann or Not To Mann

From Mike Sykes: Shoutout to everybody who participated in our Clippers poll over the weekend. Y’all are the best. We asked if you thought the Clippers should be willing to include Terance Mann in a James Harden trade.

In total, we got 56 responses and 52 votes from Layup Lines readers. An overwhelming majority of you (57 percent) said absolutely not.

Some of you also explained why. There were a couple that stood out to me.

One reader posited a potential Joel Embiid trade next season if this happens.

“I definitely think this helps Philly a lot, because Terrance Mann and the first-round pick allows them to have a bright young future and possibly get even more capital with an Embiid trade next summer (Knicks?). Think of it like a Blazers haul. On L.A.’s side, it wouldn’t really pay off in the long run, but they absolutely need to win it all this year because if they trade for the Beard, then he, Kawhi, and PG are all unrestricted free agents next summer, and in today’s world, it would be extremely hard for the Clippers to re-sign all three of them.”

Another said the price of Terance Mann is too high for a potential one-year James Harden rental. Especially if he’s going to be a malcontent at all.

“Mann is too high a price for a one-year rental – and that is IF Harden decides to play 100% for said year. I think part of the calculus has to include Harden’s desire for a long-term contract that he expects (there are reports to say that he wants/expects one should go to the Clips), and the Clips tolerance for absorbing a contract that could turn sour overnight.”

Just a little more food for thought on this already tough subject.