Marcus Thornton Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Gasol, Bryant, Frye, Pistons

February 20th, 2016 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

The final third of the season will influence Pau Gasol‘s decision on whether to stay with the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The 35-year-old plans to opt out this summer, passing up $7,769,520 next season to take a shot at free agency. His future will largely be affected by how the injury-plagued Bulls perform in the crowded Eastern Conference race for playoff spots. “How these games play out will give me information of how I want to … or how my decision will be influenced for sure,’’ Gasol said. “How we handle this situation and if we’re able to overcome it, get more together and united and stronger or we give up or are content with it. Because that tells a lot, it tells you a lot about the character of a team and the people you are around.’’

There’s more news from the Central Division:

Kobe Bryant, who will play his final game in Chicago Sunday, came close to joining the Bulls in 2004, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. In the wake of the Lakers’ loss in the NBA Finals, and with relationships strained with coach Phil Jackson and teammate Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant wanted to use his free agency to get out of Los Angeles. He held a secret meeting with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive John Paxson and strategized about how to get a sign-and-trade deal done with the Lakers. However, a few days later O’Neal asked for a trade, and Bryant spent 12 more years in L.A.
Channing Frye still hasn’t been cleared to play for Cleveland, but the organization isn’t concerned about his status, writes Tom Withers of The Associated Press. Frye, who was obtained from Orlando in a trade on Thursday, went through more medical exams today and did not accompany the Cavaliers on their trip to Oklahoma City. Coach Tyronn Lue said the franchise has “no concern at all” about Frye, who sat out the 2012/13 season with a heart condition.
The Pistons created a minuscule $211,795 trade exception equivalent to the difference between Joel Anthony‘s $2.5MM salary and the $2,288,205 salary for Donatas Motiejunas as a result of their trade Thursday, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). Detroit took Marcus Thornton‘s salary into the minimum-salary exception.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pistons Acquire Donatas Motiejunas

February 18th, 2016 at 11:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Troy Taormina / USA TODAY Sports Images

8:43pm: The Pistons acquired Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton from the Rockets as part of a three-team trade involving the Sixers, the teams all announced. The Rockets received Detroit’s top-eight protected 2016 first-round pick from the Pistons and the rights to draft-and-stash player Chukwudiebere “Chu” Maduabum from the Sixers. Philadelphia gets Joel Anthony from Detroit and Denver’s 2017 second-round pick from Houston. The Sixers are likely to waive Anthony, a league source told John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link).

Motiejunas projects to be backup for Tobias Harris, whom the Pistons also recently acquired via trade, while Thornton adds depth on the wing. The Pistons paid a steep price in adding pieces to their rotation, particularly given the lingering back issues that have kept Motiejunas from appearing in a game since the calendar flipped to 2016. Still, Pistons executive/coach Stan Van Gundy has a track record of paying heavily for players he likes, as Marc Stein of ESPN tweets. Van Gundy and company will get to match offers in restricted free agency for Motiejunas this summer, while Thornton is heading to unrestricted free agency at the completion of his one-year deal.

“We’re happy to welcome Donatas and Marcus to the Pistons family,” Pistons GM Jeff Bower said. “We like Donatas’ size, his skill level and his ability to play two frontcourt positions. Marcus adds scoring punch to our bench with his ability to create his own shot and make plays. We thank Joel Anthony for his professionalism throughout his time here and we wish him the best going forward.”

It’s no surprise to see Motiejunas depart from Houston, as it was a lock that either he or Terrence Jones would leave the Rockets as restricted free agents this summer, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com reported earlier this week. Stein reported earlier in the day that the Pistons had offered Anthony to the Rockets in exchange for Motiejunas, but instead the Rockets end up with a lightly protected first-rounder. The protection covers the top 10 in 2017 and 2018 if it doesn’t convey with top-eight protection this year, an odd wrinkle. The deal also allows the Rockets to create a trade exception worth $2,288,205, Motiejunas’ salary for this season, and another worth $947,276 as a vestige of Thornton. Maduabum, the other asset Houston gained in the deal, was the 56th overall pick in 2011 and plays for Pyrinto Tampere in Finland, well off pro basketball’s beaten path.

Philadelphia’s end of the move has the hallmarks of GM Sam Hinkie rather than chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo. The Sixers score a second-rounder and use their cap space to absorb a veteran player it seems they’d prefer not to keep. They waived JaKarr Sampson to accommodate the move, since they couldn’t trade for Anthony, even if they intended to release him, without first opening a roster spot. Anthony was fresh off re-signing with the Pistons in July on a two-year deal worth $5MM, but only the first season’s $2.5MM salary was guaranteed.

Will Joseph contributed to this post. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports first reported Motiejunas and Thornton were headed to Detroit and that the Pistons were giving up Anthony and the protected 2016 first-rounder (Twitter links). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com revealed the protection involved with the pick (on Twitter). Wojnarowski later relayed the involvement of the Sixers (Twitter link), while Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported the second-round pick going to Philly (Twitter link). Gonzalez had news of the rights to Maduabum heading to Houston (Twitter links). RealGM provided additional draft pick detail.

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Benson, Leonard

December 27th, 2015 at 8:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Marcus Thornton is growing frustrated with his fluctuating minutes for the Rockets, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Thornton was an integral part of the Rockets rotation earlier this season, when he started amid injuries, but his playing time has dwindled and become inconsistent.

“It’s very difficult,” Thornton said. “I have to keep myself in the game, see what’s going on from afar from the bench. When I get in, keep doing what I’ve been doing my whole life, put the ball in the basket. I have no reason at all. That’s the frustrating part. You don’t know. You have to go with whatever is going on and be ready.”

Thornton signed a fully guaranteed one-year deal for the minimum salary with Houston before the season. See more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans owner Tom Benson has no intention of selling the team or the NFL’s Saints, as he made clear in a statement responding to a front-page editorial from Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune that argued Benson, 88, should sell the teams because of the legal fight over whom should inherit them upon his death.
Kawhi Leonard won the Defensive Player of the Year award shortly before signing his new five-year max contract this past summer, and he’s further justifying the pact with surprisingly strong offensive contributions this season, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News examines. “He’s an amazing defender and now he’s turning into the same kind of player on the offensive end,” Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich said. “He’s a pretty special young man.”
Nick Johnson will play for the D-League affiliate of the Spurs, a source told Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor, as we passed along earlier. Click here to see more.

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Pelicans, Spurs

November 9th, 2015 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marcus Thornton has emerged as a surprise starter with the Rockets by showing he can do more than just shoot, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Thornton is enjoying a career revival as the team’s small forward, averaging 16.6 points and making a team-best 40.5% of his 3-point attempts, but his overall contributions have kept him on the floor, Feigen continues. “He’s a very good passer,” Houston coach Kevin McHale told Feigen. “He’s a good on-ball defender.” Thornton believes that McHale’s confidence in him has led to his strong start. “I always had a lot more to show,” Thornton said to Feigen. “Just now, I’ve been in the right position to show it.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

The only viable trade bait that the struggling Pelicans have to offer are their draft picks, according to Tom Ziller of SBNation.com. It would be difficult to move any of their rotation pieces because of injuries and/or contract status but the Pelicans do not owe any future first-rounders, Ziller continues in his analysis of the team’s slow start. Based upon GM Dell Demps’ history and the Pelicans’ mandate to make the playoffs, New Orleans is likely to dangle those picks on the trade market in an effort to turn its season around, Ziller believes.
Ray McCallum has gotten buried on the Spurs’ bench but is trying to make the best of the situation and remain patient, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News reports. McCallum is currently the team’s third option at point guard behind Tony Parker and Patty Mills and has been learning from the players ahead of him in the rotation, Orsborn continues. Coach Gregg Popovich told Orsborn that McCallum is still settling in after getting traded by the Kings. “He’s probably a little bit confounded right now, trying to figure out what’s going on,” Popovich said. “Some of that has to happen in his own mind, and get some sort of comfort level before they can help him too much.”
David West has been in the league a long time but he’s still opening eyes with his playmaking, Orsborn writes in a separate piece. The 13-year Spurs power forward had a six-assist outing off the bench against the Hornets last week. “Even from open gym, I realized he was better than I thought,” shooting guard Manu Ginobili told Orsborn. “He’s a willing passer, too. He’s looking for passes, looking for cutters. He can hit a jumper, but he’s also willing to pass.”

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Matthews, Grizzlies

November 9th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Marcus Thornton signed with the Rockets this summer knowing that he wasn’t assured a spot in the rotation, much less a starting job, but he felt as though the team was a strong match for his skills and was willing to bet he could boost his value on a one-year deal, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle examines. Coach Kevin McHale elected to go small and promote Thornton to the starting five after the team’s first two games, Feigen notes, a move that’s paid dividends, since Thornton has been the team’s second leading scorer so far.

“It’s been great,” Thornton said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an offense with coaches that have the ultimate confidence in you. When a coach has the ultimate confidence in you, it’s easy to go out there and play, let the chips fall where they may. If you mess up, get back, get it again. It’s great when you have guys that share the ball, too. It’s fun.”

See more from the Southwest Division:

Agent Jeff Austin thought six teams would aggressively court Wesley Matthews in free agency this past summer if he were healthy, but only two went hard after him, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. One was the Mavericks, who reportedly wound up lifting the value of their deal with Matthews from $57MM to the max of about $70MM after DeAndre Jordan reneged on his decision to sign with Dallas. Both the Raptors and Kings were apparently talking to Matthews before he agreed to join the Mavs, so it’s unclear which of them went farther than the other.
The Grizzlies have no shortage of issues, but poor performances and a lack of cohesion from Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and coach Dave Joerger are far and away the most troublesome, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal.
The Pelicans don’t have a lot of assets to trade, aside from their future draft picks, but even amid a bleak outlook for this season thanks to their injury-hit 0-6 start, their future remains bright, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller believes. That said, New Orleans is the only NBA team without a rookie, as we pointed out.
We rounded up news on the Spurs earlier today.

Rockets Sign Marcus Thornton To One-Year Deal

July 25th, 2015 at 2:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 25TH, 2:30pm: The signing is official, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.

JULY 12TH, 1:58pm: Thornton turned down larger offers to sign with the Rockets, his agent told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “He needs to play to sort of re-invent himself in the league and this was a perfect fit,” Dutt said. “There were some teams trying to do some things for him, but this was right. He’s very excited. This is going to be fun.”

1:13pm: Marcus Thornton has agreed to a one-year contract with the Rockets, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. Thornton has signed for the minimum, his agent, Tony Dutt, tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. (Twitter link).

Dutt says Thornton called the Rockets a “perfect fit” for him, adding that his client is “excited” about going to Houston (Twitter link). Former NBA executive Bobby Marks sees Thornton as a younger version of Jason Terry (Twitter link), who is an unrestricted free agent after playing last season with the Rockets.

Thornton averaged 7.9 points per game in 2014/15 with the Celtics and Suns, but played sparingly in Phoenix after being part of the deal that brought Isaiah Thomas to Boston. Thornton appeared in just nine games for the Suns and averaged just nine minutes per contest. The Heat met with Thornton last week but didn’t offer him a deal, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

Because Thornton signed a minimum contract, Houston still has its full mid-level exception available. Some of that could be used to sign unrestricted free agent Josh Smith or restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels.

Heat Sign Gerald Green

July 9th, 2015 at 8:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:56pm: The signing is official, the Heat announced. “We are fortunate to be able sign a proven veteran like Gerald,” said team president Pat Riley. “He is a dynamic talent who possesses great athleticism, and has the ability to shoot from distance and spread the floor. He’ll be a perfect complement to our team.”

8:28am: It’ll be a minimum-salary contract, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Mavericks had been interested before their deal with DeAndre Jordan fell apart, Berger adds.

8:02am: The Heat will sign Gerald Green to a one-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Miami has its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception at its disposal if Green is getting more than the minimum.

Green departs from the Suns, which is no shock after agent Kevin Bradbury took coach Jeff Hornacek to task this past spring in response to Hornacek’s criticism of Green’s defense. The swingman nonetheless seemed open to a return. The Clippers had interest and expressed that to Green’s camp, but with DeAndre Jordan coming back and Paul Pierce in the fold, L.A. has only the minimum to spend. Green seemed likely to pursue a deal approaching $5MM a year, though he’s unable to get quite that much from the Heat.

The Heat will still meet today with Marcus Thornton, who also ended last season with the Suns, in spite of their agreement with Green, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Still, it’s tough to see Miami signing both, Jackson tweets, particularly since the Heat are already short on roster space, as Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post notes (on Twitter).

Southeast Notes: Whiteside, Thornton, Wizards

July 5th, 2015 at 8:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The dollars are flying this summer for the league’s top free agents — especially free agent big men — but Heat center Hassan Whiteside says that he’s not concerning himself with all of that right now, Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post writes. Whiteside, who just experienced a breakout season, will hit free agency next summer. As Lieser points out, Whiteside has never earned more than $1MM in a season and will make $981,348 this upcoming season.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Marcus Thornton is part of a small group of shooters — and one that has shrunk because of recent reported signings — that Miami is interested in, a Heat official told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Thornton, according to Jackson, is a realistic target. There are other guards on the free agent market that would be bench upgrades, but they are more likely to command more than the minimum, and Miami hasn’t decided if it will pay more than that, Jackson adds.
The Wizards were probably out on Rodney Stuckey after agreeing to sign Gary Neal, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com tweets. On Sunday, Stuckey agreed to stay in Indiana on a three-year, $21MM deal.
Drew Gooden appears to be most likely of the Wizards‘ unrestricted free agents to return, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke with J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Gooden is one of four UFAs for Washington, including Rasual Butler, Kevin Seraphin, and Will Bynum. With Paul Pierce out of the picture, Gooden is an affordable and logical choice to help fill that void at the stretch four.

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Pacific Rumors: Thornton, Lakers, Bogut

April 11th, 2015 at 5:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marcus Thornton has not improved his free agent outlook since he was dealt to the Suns at the trade deadline, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports. The Suns only acquired Thornton to facilitate the Isaiah Thomas trade to the Celtics, which allowed them to acquire the Cavaliers’ 2016 first-round pick in the multi-team deal, Coro explains. Thornton, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season, has only appeared in nine games since the deal and has been battling a left Achilles’ tendon injury, Coro adds. That has rendered Thornton as a non-rotation player on a non-playoff team, which is not the best way to head into the free agent market, Coro points out.

In other news around the Pacific Division:

Wesley Matthews, Omer Asik and Khris Middleton are some of the free agents that the Lakers should consider pursuing this summer, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders opines. The Lakers should target free agents like Matthews and Asik that still have several productive years remaining and could be signed at a reasonable price, as well as budding talents like Middleton, Blancarte continues. What the Lakers should avoid is appeasing Kobe Bryant by signing quick-fix, high-priced free agents like Rajon Rondo, since the Lakers are a long way from contention, Blancarte adds. The club also needs to re-think its offensive strategy and embrace the 3-point shot by bringing in some long-range shooters that can space the floor, Blancarte argues.
Andrew Bogut‘s gamble when he signed an incentive-laden, three-year extension prior to last season is paying off, Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press writes. The Warriors center will play his 65th game of the season Saturday night, fulfilling one of the requirements for a potential bonus. Bogut’s deal calls for him to earn a 15% bonus — or approximately $1.93MM this year — any season he plays at least 65 games and is named to the NBA’s First or Second All-Defensive Team, Gonzalez continues. Bogut leads the league in defensive plus-minus rating, Gonzalez adds.
James Michael McAdoo was recalled by the Warriors on Saturday after he helped the D-League’s Santa Cruz Warriors win a playoff series over the Oklahoma City Blue, the team’s website reports. McAdoo has appeared in 14 games with Golden State this season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in 8.6 minutes. He had 25 points and 13 rebounds in Santa Cruz’s clinching win over the Blue on Friday.

Celtics Acquire Isaiah Thomas

February 19th, 2015 at 9:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have acquired point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Suns, Boston and Phoenix have announced in a press release. In return for its diminutive guard, Phoenix received Marcus Thornton and the Cavaliers’ 2016 first round draft pick, which is top-10 protected. “Isaiah is a dynamic offensive player whose scoring and playmaking abilities add to an already well-rounded backcourt with Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “We are excited to welcome Isaiah to the Celtics family.”

Thomas, 26, has appeared in 46 contests for the Suns this season and is averaging 15.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal in 25.7 minutes per game. He is averaging 15.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.0 steal in 28.5 minutes per game for his career. Thomas’ career slash line is .444/.365/.860.

The 27-year-old Thornton has made 39 appearances for the Celtics this season. He is averaging 8.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per contest. Thornton’s career NBA numbers are 12.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists. His career shooting statistics are .430/.365/.828.