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The Sacramento Kings finished the 2011-12 season with a 22-44 record.  By any
standard, that is a completely unsatisfactory result.

While injuries are part of the game, the Kings went 3-12 in 15 games leading
scorer Marcus Thornton missed due to injury.  The versatile two-guard out of
LSU signed a lucrative four-year deal to stay with the team shortly after the
lockout lifted and quickly paid dividends.

Be it as the starting shooting guard or as a sixth man candidate, Thornton is
now a long-term fixture in the Kings’ rotation.


Positives

Thornton can score in bunches and he can do it from almost any spot on the
floor.  This year, he averaged 18.7 points, two assists and a little under
four rebounds a game while shooting 43.8 percent from the field.  His scoring
average  ranked him fourth-highest amongst NBA shooting guards behind only
Kobe Bryant, Monta Ellis and Joe Johnson.

One of Thornton’s best attributes is his attack-the-rim mentality when shots
aren’t falling from the perimeter. He sports an impressive 68.8 field goal
percentage on shots attempted around the basket.  Similar to Fredette,
Thornton’s numbers drop dramatically away from the hoop.  But like Jimmer,
he should spend some time this summer refining his floater.



From the perimeter, Thornton is more of a bulk shooter than a marksman.  His
34.5 3-point percentage was good enough for third place on the Kings, but not
exactly something to write home about.  The numbers show an interesting trend
– Thornton’s best spot by far was the left-elbow three.  That just so
happens to be DeMarcus Cousins’ home base.  If the Kings can use these two
more often in either a two-man game or feed Thornton from the inside-out,
they could really capitalize on this anomaly.

Plenty of Thornton’s interior points came off offensive rebounds. He is one
of the best rebounders in the league for his position.  His 3.7 rebounds per
game ranks eighth overall, tied with All-Star Joe Johnson,  but it is his
work on the offensive glass that separates him.  Thornton’s 1.7 offensive
rebounds per game ties him with Tony Allen for the top spot in the league at
the shooting guard position.

Negatives

While Thornton can score from anywhere, he is the definition of “streak
shooter”.  He’s either hot or not and sometimes it takes about five or six
shots to figure that out.  Thornton is at his best in the first and fourth
quarters, where he shoots 47.7 percent and 47 percent respectively.
 Unfortunately, he shoots just 35.5 percent in the second quarter and 42.5
percent in the third.  The second quarter is clearly not acceptable, but that
is the quarter that Thornton typically rests, so the low number can be
attributed to a smaller sample size.

Thornton finished well at the rim, but according to his shot chart, he could
use improvement from every other zone on the floor.



Thornton missed 15 games on the season with thigh contusions.  He attempted
to play through the initial injury, which was bound to have an effect on his
lift and field goal percentage.  We should also cut Thornton a small amount
of slack on his high number of 3-point attempts.  The Kings desperately
needed him to shoot and make long-distance shots to open up the lane for both
Cousins and Evans.  Thornton also played with a pair of rookie point guards
and played very few minutes with Terrence Williams once he was signed to the
team.

One of the major issues with the 2011-12 Kings roster was that there were too
many roosters and not enough hens.  By that, I mean there were too many
willing shooters and dribblers and not nearly enough willing distributors.
 Coming to the Kings, Thornton had spent some time with the Hornets as a lead
guard during injury stints.  In his 27 games as a King during the 2010-11
season, he put up a healthy assist percentage of 15.3, but that number
dropped to 9.4 percent this season.  Instead of being part of the solution,
Thornton joined many of his fellow teammates as part of the problem.

Thornton finished eighth out of all two guards in rebounding, but his
defensive-rebounding percentage took a major dive.  After posting an
incredible 13.3 percent between the Kings and Hornets in 2011, that number
dropped to just 6.7 percent this season.  I would love to attribute this
number to the development of Cousins and Thompson, but Thornton’s offensive
rebounding percentage actually went up this season.  Thornton loves the
offensive put-back, but that ability needs to translate on both ends of the
floor.

On the defensive end, Thornton came to the team with a certain reputation.
 While he gives a solid effort, he struggles with technique.  Thornton has a
difficult time deciding whether to go over or under a screen.  He
consistently finds himself out of the play because of this issue.  The Kings
play horrible help defense, which should improve with time, but Thornton
needs to watch himself play defense and then compare himself to some of the
leagues elite defenders.

Again, effort does not seem to be the issue, technique is.  I would love to
see Thornton play with his arms extended and not lead with his head as a
defender.  This would improve his ability to get through screens and cut down
on the opponents passing lanes.  While Thornton’s 1.4 steals per game were
good enough for sixth place among all shooting guards, he went without a
steal in 17 of the 51 games he played.  When Thornton felt like getting a few
easy buckets, he played the passing lanes and came away with some easy
turnovers.  The Kings don’t need a gambler, but they need Thornton to be
more aggressive and a more active body off the ball.

Conclusion

Thornton is a King for the long haul, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
he is a starter long-term.  Depending on what happens this off-season, Tyreke
Evans could very well end up back in the backcourt, as the starting shooting
guard for the Kings.  This wouldn’t be the end of the world for Thornton.
 While he is a versatile scorer, Evans gives the Kings a more balanced game.
 If the Kings add a sharp shooting wing, I could see Thornton transformed
into a Jason Terry or Jamal Crawford type bench scorer, something Geoff
Petrie has been searching for since Bobby Jackson retired.

If Thornton remains the starter, I expect him to improve in multiple areas.
 The injuries that cost him 15 of the Kings 66 games were freak-type injuries
that will have no lasting effect.  He needs to refine his shot selection and
take more pride in his overall defense.  Thornton’s scoring ability is
borderline elite and his ability to take and hit big shots in the clutch is
welcome on any team.

If Thornton is your number one option, you might be in some trouble.  That
doesn’t mean that he can’t continue to lead the Kings in scoring, but the
team already began to shift towards Cousins as its go-to guy and that trend
is only going to intensify.  With the make-up of the 2012-13 Kings completely
up in the air, Thornton’s ability to fill up the basket will make him a
valuable asset – something the Kings are not likely to give away.