Detroit Pistons PG/SG Cade Cunningham was the first selection in the 2021 NBA draft, and it was clear early on this was a future fantasy star.
To be clear, Cunningham is a star. He averages 22.2 PPG, 7.1 APG and 32.8 fantasy points, and while his shooting is a tad suspect and the turnovers are way out of control, it certainly makes sense why fantasy managers in ESPN standard leagues made him a top-50 pick.
Cunningham is a building block player.
Then again, when I watched the Pistons on Monday night as they found a way to lose their 14th-consecutive game, this time against the equally terrible Washington Wizards, Cunningham wasn't the one who stood out, despite scoring a team-best 26 points.
The Pistons hit it big with Thompson
Rookie SF/SG Ausar Thompson, the No. 5 pick in the most recent draft, is a far different player, but also such an exciting talent and certainly a building block as well for dynasty formats.
Thompson, 20, isn't much of a scorer yet because he doesn't look for his shot, but he did on Monday, hitting eight of 14 field goal attempts. He hasn't hit a 3-pointer for weeks, and perhaps that is okay for fantasy since he is shooting 12.9% on attempts, but we must be patient.
Thompson is proof that traditional scoring isn't everything in fantasy. Thompson is a 6-foot-6 athletic jumper and he's averaging 9.5 RPG and 1.6 BPG, along with 1.1 SPG and 11.4 PPG. He's a fantastic defender, immediate team player and he may just end up the best fantasy option on the Pistons this season.
As it is, Thompson enters Wednesday's home game against LeBron James and the Lakers having scored 554 points in ESPN's standard system, only four fewer points than Cunningham.
That's right. Cunningham gets all the notice for directing the offense, putting the basketball in the hoop and amassing the assists, things people notice, but Thompson is just as valuable, if not more valuable moving forward because there the offensive floor has barely been tapped. Thompson, by the way, was not among the top 100 selections in ESPN average live drafts.
Not everyone on NBA championship teams scores 20 PPG, and perhaps Thompson is years from approaching this achievement, if he ever does it, but this is a special player and, in his way, an emerging fantasy building block regardless of format.
Thompson's presence on the glass
Everyone knows Spurs C Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the recent draft, but Thompson, nearly a foot shorter, averages just as many rebounds. All the rebound leaders are centers. When's the last time a 6-foot-6 player averaged this many boards and blocks? Thompson weighs barely 200 pounds, but this is Charles Barkley-type stuff here!
Let's add some more perspective here, if the fact that Thompson scoring the same fantasy points as Cunningham, despite scoring nearly half the traditional points, isn't enough: Thompson averages 32.6 fantasy points per game, among the top 75 in the league. That's more than Knicks PF Julius Randle (19.6 PPG, 9.6 RPG), Grizzlies PF/C Jaren Jackson Jr. (19.4 PPG), Cavaliers PG Darius Garland (19.4 PPG) and plenty of others who went in the first 10 rounds of ESPN drafts.
It is more than every rookie except for Wembanyama and Thunder C Chet Holmgren. Fantasy managers tend to overrate rookies, but in the Ausur Thompson case, they did not.
The Pistons, of course, still found a way to lose by 19, at home, to the Wizards, but there is a definitely a future here for this franchise, and for fantasy managers. Cunningham, despite 4.5 turnovers per contest, is clearly improving, and there is another level or more here statistically. He could be putting up 25 PPG and 8.5 APG soon, but he needs to make better decisions and work on his outside shot.
Don't forget about Duren... and possibly Ivey
C Jalen Duren actually leads the Pistons at 34.3 fantasy points per game, as he averages a double-double and showed on Monday, with his five blocks, that there is another level for him as well.
I'm not sure why the Pistons acquired C James Wiseman from the Warriors last season. Duren is a solid defensive presence and perhaps, at some point, he will develop more offensively, and he needs to stay healthy. Still, Duren has a strong rim-runner here when he wants it.
The Pistons need to build around this trio -- perhaps second-year PG/SG Jaden Ivey develops, too -- and they would not be the worst team in the league, but wins don't mean much this season.
PF/SF Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) may make his season debut this week, and his outside shot should drastically alter the offense. Bogdanovic averaged 21.6 PPG and 2.5 3PG last season, and he was an underrated fantasy option. He is 34, so the Pistons should trade him, but a few wins along the way wouldn't hurt.
Final thoughts
Perhaps it is just me, but I find it difficult to scout college-age players who do not play college ball. Thompson and his twin brother SG Amen Thompson, who hasn't played for the Houston Rockets in four weeks due to a sprained ankle, played last season in the Overtime Elite league.
While scouts raved about each of them, and they were quickly selected in the top 5, I didn't have much of a gauge on their initial contribution capacity for their NBA and fantasy teams.
Curiously, I invested in Indiana Pacers SF/SG Bennedict Mathurin over the Thompson twins in one keeper league, and surely regret it today. But how would we know?
Amen Thompson averages only 10.8 fantasy points for the Rockets. Ausur Thompson is a star. Even now, I watch Duke PG Tyrese Proctor and Baylor SG Ja'Kobe Walter and envision them as a fantasy relevant lottery picks next season, but Ron Holland plays for the G League Unite and Alexandre Sarr is a teenage star French center, and I probably won't see them play.
We could miss something here. Perhaps we did on the Thompsons. Well, at least, for now, with one of them.