Ausar Thompson Prospect Watch: An Elite Skywalker

Last week, you learned about Amen Thompson and so it’s only natural that we give you his brother Ausar Thompson this week. The 6-foot-7, 207-pound wing is just as exciting as his brother and almost an equally elite athlete. He has some of the similar problems, but also a lot of the same strengths.

If Amen is already a top 1% athlete, Ausar isn’t far behind. He’s likely a top 10% athlete in the NBA as he stands now. He can handle the ball extremely well, has supreme hang time, and has a burgeoning midrange game. In 14 games so far this season, here are his stats.

• 16.2 PPG, 5.4 APG, 7.2 RPG, 2.5 SPG, 1.2 BPG
• 48.1 FG%, 32.0 3P%, 66.7 FT%

Ausar Thompson Breakdown

Like his brother, Ausar is a smart and willing passer. His only issue is that he has not gotten the opportunity to really play as the lead guard. Since he plays on the same team as his brother, Amen generally handles those responsibilities. Having said that, Ausar has shown he can handle in the open court and especially in transition. His team pretty much lives in transition where he can showcase his athleticism and ability to finish above and around the rim.

What Ausar has over his brother is his shooting. He’s fairly consistent in the midrange right now but has shown flashes of deeper shooting. His form is a little cleaner than Amen’s and shows us that he’s got good potential in shooting more consistently from three-point land.

Defense could be what keeps Thompson on the floor despite the inability to space the floor right now. He is an excellent weak-side defender and rim protector with his length and bounces off the floor. However, he plays upright on defense and gets beat off the dribble this way. There are some bad habits that need breaking, but a professional team should help fix that.