He's definitely been a godsend. Can't wait for our PFs to get healthy and he can be that Delfino role off the bench.
He fits really well next to Harden. Tonight he proved he fit well along side two dominant ball handlers in Harden and Lawson, in a similar way I thought he would have fit in next to Bron and Wade back in 2011. SAC decided to keep him on a four year deal worth $33m. I was surprised to see him get that much (13% of the cap at the time), and it was too rich for MIA's blood. At the vet min, however, he's a solid value. Sure, he's a step slower, but he also seems to be playing a little more under control than when he was asked to create more offensively in his SAC days. Although I like his hustle so far (including 4.8 rpg), there will be plenty of nights when he's simply going to be outmatched, either in lateral quickness (28 y/o now) or size. Even when it does makes sense to play small, certain matchups may look better with Bev as the third guard to maintain defensive pressure. .433 3P% is nice for now, but he's .366 on his career. He'll come down to Earth, but a lot of that depends on if he'll keep getting a bunch of open spot-up looks.
Same here. His story shows how great players can have their careers destroyed or nearly destroyed by being stuck on terrible teams and coaching situations. This guy would've had a so much better career if he hadn't landed in such bad spots. Glad we signed him at his lowest value, most underrated singing of the off-season.
Not just a scorer <iframe src="https://vine.co/v/eLLqOZnhIqw/embed/simple" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script>
I wanted Thornton last year at the deadline, and i think his agent got him to sign here to help up his value for these mega money years because of how well he fits.
Thornton is a really good running mate next to James, maybe the perfect running mate offensively speaking. He is someone that can set his feet and hit that open shot all day long. Perfect floor spacer and has enough mid range game and can finish at the rim well enough that teams have to play him honest. PG - Harden SG - Thonton SF - Kevin Durant? PF - DMo C - D12 Tell me that wouldn't make you salivate!
The sweetest thing about this play is that if Howard doesn't dunk that ball, Ariza is right behind him, ready to do the same thing. It looks like a practice drill, with Blake Griffin as the towel boy.
I'm thrilled he made it here. When I first heard about it, I immediately thought about our need for easier buckets. LowKeyMT brings an ability to score off of jumpers and beyond the arc. There are so many instances where a jumper or floater would have helped us last year. I love the 3, but it's not the answer in every scenario.
MT does fit well with James. We finally have that consistent scorer we needed last year. I thought MT was just a great shooter, but he can handle the ball, create off the dribble and has pretty good court vision. He's also hustling on defense. Great p/u by DM. This is one of the pieces we need to have in the rotation to win a championship.
Once we have a PF to start games, Thornton is going to make our 2nd unit much better. He has the consistent scoring ability as a 6th man that we've been lacking. A great signing by Morey and I love that McHale has been using him in the lineup, going small, and forcing the other teams to match up with us.
I'm not gonna crucify McHale for not playing Dekker or KJ. The former really struggled in the preseason and the latter still can't shoot. But you're right about D-Mo. It took injuries to force McHale to give him more minutes last season. Same with Capela late in the season. If Dwight doesn't have to sit out those B2Bs, he may have remained in the D-League and never made the postseason roster. Although I'll give McHale props for being willing to bench Dorsey in favor of Capela. As bad as Dorsey was, Capela wasn't exactly any better in his limited minutes earlier in the season. Let's just hope that now we all realize what a gem we have in Thornton, he'll continue to get minutes once the PFs and Bev are all back. Depth is a great thing, but you still need to play your best players the most minutes. And so far this season, it's no contest between Thornton and Brewer.
