The Rockets were able to make a dent in the playoffs this year, making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the Warriors in 5 games. After missing out on LaMarcus Aldridge, (although I believe he should’ve gone to Houston) it’s looking like instead of trying to make a big splash in free agency, the Rockets will try to keep their core together and build up the bench. First they re-signed Patrick Beverly and Corey Brewer, and now they are reportedly signing Marcus Thornton.
From Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
Rockets signing free agent guard Marcus Thornton to a one-year minimum deal, agent Tony Dutt tells Yahoo.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 12, 2015
I like this move for Houston. Thornton is no superstar, but he’s the type of player who can provide instant offense off the bench. The guy can straight up get buckets, and players like that are very useful off the bench(think J.R. Smith in his 6MOY season).
Thornton has never been named to an All-Star team, but he had an All-Star level season in 2010-11 for the Kings, when he averaged 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 45% from the field and 36.1% from 3-point range. He’s not out of his prime, either. At age 28, Thornton still has years of good basketball left
Thornton shot lights out for the Celtics last season(41.6% from deep during his time in Boston), until he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in the Isaiah Thomas deal.
Thornton isn’t astoundingly efficient as a shooter, but he gets the job done. He’ll be sure to provide a nice spark off the bench for Houston next year, so that the offense isn’t stagnant when Harden’s on the bench.
