The more I learn about this guy, the more I love this pick. Seems like a bucket and I love hearing that he plays at his own pace. I'm not going to make any proclamations about him though lol but I wouldn't be surprised if he's getting back up PG minutes. At least I'll be interested in watching Summer league games this season.
He’s like James Harden. But shorter. He’s chunky and plays at the pace HE chooses. Western conference finals here we come!!!
As Kyle Lowry (24th pick) did in the past, and even more so Jalen Brunson (33rd pick) has in the present, being small does not deter from being a winning player. You never know.
As far as the Lowry comp, Kyle was definitely more explosive and quick, whereas Thornton is less athletic but more crafty and a better jump shooter than Kyle was in college ball. Thornton is more of a patient skill-based half court player. As those of us who watched him know, Lowry was a tiny downhill wrecking ball who thrived in transition.
Looks like we finally drafted a player instead of a prospect. I like that. Hopefully his game translates well.
I've been fast forwarding through a few of Thornton's games and honestly, the way he plays makes me think of a tiny little copy of Luka. He likes to operate in the same areas of the floor, he likes to use his body or his off arm to get defenders behind him and get to the rack like Luka does, takes lots of weird-angle semi-contested jump shots, both midrange and 3Pers, like Luka does, often using a stepback to get a sliver of space to get his shot off. In general he is just in that mold of patient shotmaker who never looks rushed and never looks bothered by contests that would bother a lot of other players. The huge, glaring, possibly a red flag difference is that Luka is 6'8" and Thornton is 6'0". I don't know how much harder it will be to play that way in the NBA without those extra eight inches of height, but I assume the answer is "a lot". On the plus side I do think there's a chance that Thornton could actually be an OK defensive player, because he actually cares about that end and is a fiery competitor.
We'll see, I don't think he has the athleticism to defend guards and doesn't have the height to defend forwards. I think he's a guy who would be awesome if he was 6'7 or 6'8 but might not stay in the league long at 6'0
6'0" in shoes barefoot according to his combine measurements. He is a bulky 6 foot though which always makes guys look bigger. Also keep in mind most guys listed at 6'0" in the NBA are actually 5'10" or 5'11", they're listing their height in shoes and rounding up because nobody wants to be below the magic number
