He’s got a nice middie but his finishes around the rim are kinda ugly. At his height not sure if it translates. One thing that may save him is he’s a pretty beefy guy so maybe he can bully ball on drives.
A lot of the things he does look like they could translate. He's very shifty and uses angles extremely well. Comfortable with taking contested shots and good at making them. Comfortable with contact and can easily bump bigger players out of the way. Good stepback game. It's always a crapshoot in this draft range, but I think there's a real chance he's an NBA rotation player, and the nice thing is, if he's not going to translate we're going to know it right away since he was a college senior and not have to waste time waiting on him to mature. Either he's going to play valuable bench minutes next season or we can move on.
Outlook: Thornton projects as a second-round pick … His combination of shooting, toughness, efficiency, decision-making, and experience gives him a realistic pathway to carving out a long NBA career … While his physical limitations likely cap his upside, his ability to run an offense, make shots, and consistently impact winning should appeal to teams looking for immediate backcourt depth … He projects as the type of mature, reliable reserve point guard who can outperform his draft position and stick in the league for years.
Remember when Stone said he 'considered Daishen Nix a lottery pick?' I remember. Trust is earned. Show me, dont tell me, etc etc.
I’m excited to see what he can do. It’s the summer, so hope springs eternal. But, I wonder how he will fit in with our current roster if we don’t make changes. Can he play at the same time with Reed or Fred? I suppose the Rockets could be open to trading Reed. Or, they may see Thornton as a replacement for Fred down the line. Thornton is a second round pick, so he is a bit of a long shot to becoming a significant NBA player. So, you can’t really view him as a foundational piece at this time. I will say this. Thornton doesn’t appear to be afraid to go into the woods. We need that, since Reed plays scared most of the time. You can’t make it in the NBA being a passive scaredy-cat. I’m now looking forward to summer league and all the overreactions.
Actually he NEEDS to be good. Stone NEEDS to be good at his job, and a good GM should nail a pick that high, especially in a historically deep draft. If Bruce isn't a solid backup PG at least, then this would be a fail by Stone.
Saying Thorton could be good is like saying water could be wet, I have high expectations for the #1 pick of the 2nd round.....
