It’s always a crapshoot when it comes to what, if anything, you can take from the NBA preseason, which is filled with did-not-plays and largely disjointed, experimental rotations.
But for newcomers to teams—rookies, in particular—there are valuable, noticeable observations that can be drawn. How are youngsters handling the pace of play? What do they do when the ball isn’t in their hands? And when they do have it, how well are they able to see the floor?
For forward Ausar Thompson, the Pistons’ No. 5 pick this past June, all those questions were answered fairly quickly during his preseason debut Sunday against the Suns.
