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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide 2026: Face-off, Ausar Thompson vs. Jaden McDaniels
Last Updated on October 16, 2026 11:16 am by Mike Passador | Published: October 16, 2026
Our Fantasy Face-Off series will feature two SportsEthos staffers making their arguments in a head-to-head battle of comparable fantasy players.
Ausar Thompson and Jaden McDaniels are two of the very best defenders in the league and are hot tickets in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts. One has more offensive punch while the other is much more prolific at turning on-court activity into defensive stats on the sheet. Pedro Oliveira is in Thompson’s corner and Mark Camero is throwing his support toward McDaniels.
Last Season
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | DET | 73 | 72 | 26.0 | 4.2 | 7.9 | 52.5 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 57.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 25.0 | 9.9 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| 24-25 | DET | 59 | 48 | 22.5 | 4.2 | 7.8 | 53.5 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 64.1 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 22.4 | 10.1 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | MIN | 73 | 73 | 31.7 | 5.7 | 11.1 | 51.5 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 83.5 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 41.2 | 14.8 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| 24-25 | MIN | 82 | 82 | 31.9 | 4.9 | 10.2 | 47.7 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 81.2 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 33.0 | 12.2 | 5.7 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
Thompson was the best he’s ever been but fantasy managers couldn’t help but be a little disappointed since they were looking for a breakout rather than him replaying the greatest hits at a higher volume. Don’t get it twisted — Thompson’s league-leading steals matched with good blocks, boards and some respectable assists to create must-start value, but there was no growth to his offensive game at all and his numbers across the box didn’t jump all that much considering his extra four minutes per game. He was able to post top-50 value in punt-FT% builds but Thompson didn’t really generate much forward momentum up the rankings. Him simply meeting his ADP, with a caveat to get beyond it, was not the expectation for his third season. Thompson slotted in at 108/97 (8/9-cat) overall and the other kicker was that his offensive limitations prevented him from playing more on a Detroit roster that needed spacing.
McDaniels was able to cook up yet another breakout season, following up a great 2024-25 effort with new career-highs in points, assists, FG% and FT% while matching his previous bests in blocks and 3-pointers. That was good for a 72/70 finish and McDaniels flashed some untapped scoring upside throughout the season, giving managers more than they expected with 17 games of 20-plus points. He wasn’t necessarily a prolific source of defensive stats but was a well-rounded contributor who chipped in all over the box score, and at the end of the day he still gave you over two combined steals and blocks per game with burgeoning skills on the other side of the ball. McDaniels wasn’t elite in any one category but he was pretty good in a lot of them and played a ton as perhaps the most irreplaceable player in Minnesota’s lineup.
The Case for Ausar Thompson
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