Young Pistons frontcourt stars Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson appeared to have elevated their upside this season, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Both players are elite athletes, Langlois observes, but both have also at times looked pretty raw as scorers this year.
This month, Thompson has impressed, averaging 14.6 points on 69 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals across seven contests. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is also exploring Thompson’s abilities as a supplemental playmaker, and his ability to get to the basket. He’s been averaging 4.7 foul line looks this month.
“He’s growing into the role that this team needs him to be in,” Bickerstaff said of Thompson. “Offensively, we need him to be a threat. He’s an elite playmaker. Some of the passes he threw tonight … he’s a special passer, but now you can his confidence growing as he’s finishing at the rim.”
Duren, meanwhile, is also growing as a ball handler. He has dished out 23 dimes against just seven turnovers in his last four contests.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, an Oakland native, is returning to the Bay Area for his ninth All-Star appearance this weekend at San Francisco’s Chase Center, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Lillard notes that his hometown feels somewhat out-of-sorts as it is drained of its pro sports presence. “I feel like my childhood, a lot of the positivity was that all of the guys who are from the Bay Area we took pride in having our teams there,” Lillard said. “It gave us something to belong to us. But now with all of them leaving, it’s like a ghost town. So, I hate to see that for the city.” The Warriors have departed Oakland for San Francisco, the NFL’s Raiders left for Las Vegas, and the MLB’s A’s are following suit.
- Former three-time All-Star Bucks forward Khris Middleton, a critical part of the club’s title run in 2021, was moved at the trade deadline to Washington. He finally weighed in on the end of his Milwaukee tenure with a social media post to fans (Instagram link). “As I begin this new chapter, I’m excited for the opportunities ahead,” Middleton wrote in part. “But Milwaukee will always hold a special place in my heart.”
- Athletic Bulls rookie forward Matas Buzelis is looking to establish himself nationally in the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘I’ve got a few dunks people have never seen before,’’ Buzelis said. ‘‘It should be fun.’’ Per Cowley, the 6’10” pro had been finessing his dunk portfolio over the last month with two-time Slam Dunk champ Zach LaVine, prior to the swingman’s blockbuster deadline trade to Sacramento.