Ausar Thompson makes 2025-26 All‑Defensive Team

Ausar Thompson’s All-Defensive First Team selection is a clean marker of how far Detroit’s defense moved this season. The NBA announced on May 22 that Thompson made the 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team, alongside Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Rudy Gobert and Derrick White. The honor gives Thompson his first All-Defense selection and adds to a postseason awards run that also included a Defensive Player of the Year finalist spot. NBA.com’s season awards page listed Thompson among the three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, an award won by Wembanyama. (nba.com) Detroit’s broader context matters here. The Pistons finished the regular season 60-22, first in the Eastern Conference, after posting the league’s second-best defensive rating at 108.9, according to NBA and ESPN records. ### How strong was Thompson’s case on the numbers? (nba.com) Thompson’s regular-season statistical case started with takeaways. Pistons.com said he led the NBA in steals per game at 2.0, ranked second in deflections at 4.3 per game and finished third in total steals with 146. (nba.com) The 23-year-old also posted a career-high 0.95 blocks per game and recorded at least one steal in 64 of his 73 games, the team said. Pistons.com added that he was named Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for January and March. ESPN’s season stat page lists Thompson at 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, numbers that do not drive this award but help frame how much Detroit asked him to do in regular minutes. (nba.com) ### Where does this place him in Pistons history? Detroit’s local coverage framed the selection as a franchise rarity. (nba.com) ClickOnDetroit reported that Thompson became the first Pistons player to earn All-Defense honors in 20 years, and the first since Ben Wallace to make the first team. (espn.com) The distinction is narrower than simply “first defensive team in decades.” Free Press-linked republications said Tayshaun Prince made the second team in 2007-08, while Wallace was the last Detroit player on the first team in 2005-06. (clickondetroit.com) ### What did this say about Detroit’s defense as a team? Detroit’s team numbers gave Thompson a stronger platform than a standalone steals total would. Pistons.com said the club finished with the NBA’s second-best defensive rating at 108.9, behind only Oklahoma City’s 106.5. (witness.usatoday.com) The Pistons also led the league with 16.8 “stocks” per game — steals plus blocks — which the team said was the highest mark by any NBA team since the 1997-98 Toronto Raptors. That team context helps explain why Thompson’s candidacy landed on the first team rather than the second. (nba.com) A global media panel of 100 voters selected the All-Defensive teams, with five players on each team regardless of position, the NBA said. ### How did Thompson carry that defense into the playoffs? (nba.com) Thompson’s postseason line stayed consistent with the award. Pistons.com said he finished the 2026 playoffs with 28 steals, 25 blocks, 55 deflections and 32 forced turnovers in 14 games. In the first round against Orlando, the team said Thompson recorded at least 15 steals and 15 blocks in the series, a combination not seen in a playoff series since LeBron James in the 2016 Finals. (nba.com) ESPN’s game log also shows a five-steal game against Orlando on April 29 and a five-block game on April 25. (nba.com) ### What comes next on the awards calendar? The NBA’s awards page said Coach of the Year was still pending as of May 21, with the winner scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff was listed as a finalist there. The league’s full 2025-26 awards tracker remains on NBA.com, and Thompson’s All-Defensive First Team spot is now part of a season ledger that also includes Detroit’s 60-win finish and second-round playoff exit. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) (nba.com 3)