Sep 26, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon during a press conference at the New Orleans Pelicans Media Day from the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Trajan Langdon Optimistic About Pistons Forward's Development

Originally posted on Detroit Pistons on SI
By Kevin McCormick | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 1:09 PM ET

When Trajan Langdon took over the Detroit Pistons' front office last year, he inherited an array of intriguing young players. Instead of shaking things up and building his own core, he's decided to keep the group intact and bet on their potential. Ahead of the 2026 campaign, he is zeroing in on one specific player to take a noticeable step forward in their development.

Looking at the Pistons' core, by far the biggest X-factor is Ausar Thompson. He is a versatile wing that has shown flashes of being a high-level athlete and defender in the NBA. However, he's dealt with a major roadblock to start his career.

Towards the end of his rookie season, Thompson was shelved for an extended period due to a blood clot diagnosis. He was eventually able to get things under control, but it left him very limited when it came to training and being around his teammates.

The former No. 5 pick was able to return to action towards the end of November and appeared in 59 games for the Pistons last season. Now, he's gearing up for what he hopes will be his first full campaign since turning pro.

During a recent interview with The Athletic, Langdon was asked his thoughts on Thompson amid all the obstacles he's had to navigate to start his NBA career. He believes that having a fully healthy offseason will yield big results for the versatile wing.

"Ausar didn’t have a full summer last year, so we’re excited he’s going to have a full summer of getting in the gym, working on his strength and getting stronger. (He’s) getting more stable, getting more agile on the floor, working on his skill, working the shot. He’s going to be more ready coming into camp. He wasn’t even able to have a camp last year, either," Langdon told The Athletic. "The continuity of finishing one season, having a summer and going right into the next season with everybody else (will be beneficial). He couldn’t even train with his teammates last year during the summer, the preseason or roughly the first 20 games, so that is going to be an advantage for him. It’ll be an advantage for us."

Thompson continued to display his all-around skill set last season, finishing the year with averages of 10.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG.

In 2025, we saw what having a healthy offseason did for Cade Cunningham and his development. With nothing holding him back in regards to training this summer, Thompson is sure to be a player with a lot of buzz around him when training camp gets underway in the near future.