Marcus Thornton

[jcwkings]

I just want to know what Kings fans think of him. Everyone thinks its a no brainer to sign him, but if we do, we are essentially commiting to him being the 3rd big piece of our core. Does he really fit with Tyreke and Cousins down the line? Is he the type of player that will sacrifice his scoring for the team, or will he try to be a better defender? I don't know why he didn't get minutes in New Orleans, with all that scoring ability, red flag? Im just worried that we sign him and its the Kevin Martin situation all over again. I think what we need at the 2 is a gaurd with good size, good defender, can shoot the 3. I say we go after Aaron Afflalo, hes one of the best wing defenders in the league and can shoot the 3. He is a good fit with Tyreke. The only thing I like about Thornton is he seems to have the clutch gene, and is definetly not afraid to have the ball in his hand down the stretch, unlike Kevin Martin.

 

[Letsgokings13]

It really is a no brainer to resign him. I'd be willing to go 4 years at 26 mil on him. He does have the clutch gene, is young, creates his own shot, has an array of offensive options. From what we saw with him, he fit in really well with this team . Seemed to get along with everybody and has good chemistry with them on and off the court. I beleive he is a hard worker (judging from his twitter account about working out..) He can grow into a decent defender but i dont know about "good" because of his size. I believe he IS the third important piece to this team. I like him and would be very, very bummed if we didn't keep him.

 

[Shabazz916]

Thorton is a must keep he young fits well can shoot. Even tho he scored at he is not a gimme the ball all the time type player. He passes. And he gives effort and he doesnt tank.

 

[Uncia03]

Thorton isn't going to cost us 10+ mil/year.
So if you can get him for around 6mil/year, then he doesn't even have to be that '3rd piece'. He can be an important piece to the puzzle, but it's not as if you're locking yourself into something which is going to really hinder you down the line.

If Thorton can continue and build off of what he showed us this past year, then he is more than worth 6 mil/year.

 

[Bricklayer]

Thronton very much looked like the 3rd piece, or at least 3rd scorer, down the stretch last year. This whole insane gotta have three superstars things is just that, insane. Normally your 3rd option is going to be more of an occasional All Star type talent (on a title contender that is), not some megastar MVP candidate. Jeff Hornacek was a 3rd option. So is either Tony Parker or Manu (actually now the 3rd is Duncan, but still whoever #3 was he was a good player but not a sueprstar). With two main stars the 3rd guy is only going to have room for about 15-18ppg anyway, so even if you put an erstwhile sueprstar like Bosh in that role, he's somewhat wasted.

And Thornton flashed potential to be that level player, and showed very nice all around skills as a shooter, passer, rebounder, post up guard, slasher, you name it. And maybe even more importantly he showed a toughness and competitiveness that any winning team absolutely needs.

Bringing him back is just a no brainer at this point, and that's even if he costs more than $6mil. You elt the market set things a bit, but as long as you stay well under $10mil its reasonable. And truth be told fully unleashed like last year he might be worth $10mil to somebody. Let's just hope nobody out there takes that leap.

 

[ParniValjak]

Thorton isn't going to cost us 10+ mil/year.
So if you can get him for around 6mil/year, then he doesn't even have to be that '3rd piece'. He can be an important piece to the puzzle, but it's not as if you're locking yourself into something which is going to really hinder you down the line.

If Thorton can continue and build off of what he showed us this past year, then he is more than worth 6 mil/year.

If we are paying Chuck Hayes $5million per season, Thornton would NOT cost only $1 million more. It would be quite a bit more.

 

[est.1999]

Thornton is the man.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Thornton showed much more than what Kevin Martin showed. Martin is a poor man's Reggie Miller. Thornton is closer to Mitch Richmond. Thornton can create his own shot, not just run off screens or shoot when open. And Thornton has much better court vision than Martin.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I think very highly of him. For comparison, Kevin Martin is making 12 mil a year right now. I'll take Thornton over him any day and He'll probly cost at least a few million less.

He does so many things I like and so few things I dislike. He plays hard, he has a great motor, he's clutch, and he's young. I want him here for a long, long time.

 

[bajaden]

Thornton showed toughness, and the ability to be clutch. Also, he doens't live or die by the outside shot. I was impressed with his ability to get to the basket when his outside shot wasn't falling. He also showed of his ability to pass the ball. As stated, if he continues to improve, he would be a steal at around 6 mil a year. From what I've read on twitter, the Kings have him down as a must resign. which is fine with me.

 

[ESP47]

Thronton very much looked like the 3rd piece, or at least 3rd scorer, down the stretch last year. This whole insane gotta have three superstars things is just that, insane. Normally your 3rd option is going to be more of an occasional All Star type talent (on a title contender that is), not some megastar MVP candidate. Jeff Hornacek was a 3rd option. So is either Tony Parker or Manu (actually now the 3rd is Duncan, but still whoever #3 was he was a good player but not a sueprstar). With two main stars the 3rd guy is only going to have room for about 15-18ppg anyway, so even if you put an erstwhile sueprstar like Bosh in that role, he's somewhat wasted.

And Thornton flashed potential to be that level player, and showed very nice all around skills as a shooter, passer, rebounder, post up guard, slasher, you name it. And maybe even more importantly he showed a toughness and competitiveness that any winning team absolutely needs.

Bringing him back is just a no brainer at this point, and that's even if he costs more than $6mil. You elt the market set things a bit, but as long as you stay well under $10mil its reasonable. And truth be told fully unleashed like last year he might be worth $10mil to somebody. Let's just hope nobody out there takes that leap.

Who are the two scorers ahead of Thorton? From what I saw last year, Thorton is a better scorer than Cousins and Evans by a mile. Cousins is still developing but Thorton is the #1 option. We basically played .500 ball with him as our first scoring option. He has a good FG%, nice 3 point stroke, solid from the FT line and is as clutch as you can be. As long as we don't try and force him into the #1 role like we did Martin, I see him scoring 20ppg this year with Evans at 17 and Cousins at 16 or so.

 

[Showtime]

Honestly, I was surprised by the Salmons move considering MT's production capability. I know they play different positions on the wing, but I hope JS isn't a sign that GP doesn't want MT, because that would be a downright end-of-my-support-for-GP move. Why not play Evans as a point-forward ala Magic and let Jimmer/MT/Salmons split the guard/forward responsibilities?

 

[Hallama]

Haven't heard any news regarding MT yet. Hopefully he signs by Monday.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I'm a little wierded out by the fact that there has been literally no Marcus Thornton related news for a while. With business opening in 30 minutes .. you would think we would have heard something by now.

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm a little wierded out by the fact that there has been literally no Marcus Thornton related news for a while. With business opening in 30 minutes .. you would think we would have heard something by now.

Yes could be alarming, or could be good news given our front office's normal tight lippedness. COuld mean that nobody else has seriosuly pursued him so we have been able to quietly reach terms behind the scene.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Yes could be alarming, or could be good news given our front office's normal tight lippedness. COuld mean that nobody else has seriosuly pursued him so we have been able to quietly reach terms behind the scene.

It is a bit alarming...just the quietness in general around the whole league right now after the Chris Paul debacle. I honestly don't know what to expect.