Marcus Thornton

Marcus Thornton, #5 SG, LSU

Strengths:
- Perimeter shooting
- Driving to the basket
- Offensive rebounding
- Screen usage
- Lateral Quickness
- Offensive movement
- Defensive hands

Weaknesses:
- Undersized SG at NBA level
- Left-handed dribbling
- Creating own shot
- Defensive fundamentals
- Unpolished mid-range game

Summary:
I watched Marcus Thornton play against Butler and North Carolina in the first and second rounds of this year's NCAA Tournament. He is a pure shooter. There is no other way to put it. He is capable of putting up huge numbers when he has the ball in his hands. In both games, Thornton moved well without the ball in his hands. He utilized the staggered screens that the LSU offense established to get him open. Once he received the ball, he was ready to shoot. He has beautiful shot mechanics that make him lethal from virtually anywhere on the floor. Many of his shots were contested by the defense, but his quick release allowed him to get his shots off. His field goal percentage is up (47.2%) from his junior season (43.6%) because he has improved his shooting selection, just another reason for teams to a good look at him.

Thornton also was not afraid to put the ball on the floor and go straight to the basket. Though it is not his strength, especially dribbling to his left, he would still continue to drive. He was able to draw contact in these situations allowing him to get to the line.

What was most exciting to see was Thornton effort elsewhere on the court. He was banging around in the low post to get the offensive rebound (averaging two offensive boards a game). It seems rare to find a shooting guard who is willing to battle it out in the post to grab an offensive board, but this is exactly Thornton's mentality. It helped his team increase the number of second chance points in both games. He also improved his assist-to-turnover ratio from his junior season (currently 1.17, up from 0.62). This improvement is huge because he is creating twice as many opportunities for his teammates this year for every turnover he has.

There are a few weaknesses in Thornton's offensive game. LSU's offense is geared for him to succeed. The team sets many staggered screens for him to run off of. He may not be put into an offense that is willing to do the same for him at the NBA level. Because of the current system he is in he needs to improve two things. First, his shooting percentage declines when he is forced to score off the dribble. He is more effective as a jump shooter, and if he wants to excel at the next level, he will need to improve his abilities to create his own shot and finish. Second, his mid-range game is not polished. As I said before, he has a very good shot, especially from behind the arc, but he does need to work on his mid-range shot.

Thornton does a pretty good job on the defensive end of the court. He exhibits good effort on this end of the court. He stays in a defensive stance, does a good job of keeping his defender in front of him, and playing physically. His lateral quickness allows him to keep up with an offensive player pretty easily as well. Thornton has a good wingspan for a shooting guard, which allows him to get his hand in the passing lane. He needs to hone his defensive fundamentals though. I saw Thornton fall for ball fakes and unsuccessfully go for steals several times throughout both games.

Although Thornton is a bit undersized to play the SG, but he has many strong qualities and upside that can help many NBA teams. He had a strong showing this year in the SEC Conference and the NCAA Tournament that can only help his draft stock.

Projection: late first, early second round (28-36)

Player Comparison: poor man's Richard Hamilton

Best Fit:
- Philadelphia: the 76ers are the worst three point shooting team in the league (currently 32.1%). That's no secret. Finding a scorer in this year's draft will be important if they do not decide to pursue one in free agency. Out of all of these teams, I believe Philadelphia could be the best fit. He's a team player, committed on both sides of the ball and can shoot very well from behind the arc.
- Charlotte: the Bobcats need a go to scorer, especially in the clutch, but can he fill that role? I think he can fill that role for the Bobcats, at least temporarily, until the team can find that marquee player in the future.
- Detroit: Richard Hamilton is getting older and I'm not sure how much longer he can keep going at the pace he does. I see many similarities between Thornton and Hamilton's game and believe that Thornton could help give Hamilton a breather, and the team can continue to run screens to get Thornton open.
- Oklahoma City: this could be an interesting fit. Thornton could be a nice complimentary scorer next to Durant, or coming off the bench and providing a spark. I doubt OKC takes him though because the team already has several back court players.