Sydney Kings guard Marcus Thornton must take game to ‘next level’ to fulfil NBA dream

SYDNEY Kings import guard and Boston Celtics draftee Marcus Thornton has been warned he needs to contribute more than just scoring if he wants to make it in the NBA.

Marcus Thornton of the Kings during the Sydney Kings v Illawarra Hawks basketball game at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. Pic mark evans

SYDNEY Kings import guard and Boston Celtics draftee Marcus Thornton has been warned he needs to contribute more than just scoring if he wants to make it in the NBA.

Thornton, a second-round draft pick in the 2015 NBA draft, only managed seven points and failed to contribute in other areas as he had a quiet and disappointing game in Sydney’s 24-point loss against Illawarra on Saturday night.

The young guard averaged 14 points but just two assists and two rebounds per game going in to Saturday’s game, and Kings coach Joe Connelly said Thornton needs to improve in both aspects of the game if he wants to get on court as a Celtic or any NBA team in the future.

“I think he needs to work on doing other things beside scoring,” Connelly said.

Marcus Thornton during the Kings’ loss to the Hawks. Picture: Mark Evans

“If you look at the stat sheet, he played 22 minutes (against Illawarra) and had one rebound and (one) assist, and you’ve got to do more things than just try to put the ball in the hole.

“To his credit he was trying to be aggressive, he got to the hole and missed some easy shots, but the game is more than scoring.

“If he’s preparing to go to the next level, nights like this won’t take him very far.”

Connelly worked for three seasons as an assistant at NBA franchise Washington Wizards and has done a lot of palyer development work.

Thornton has seven more games as a King to make the most of his NBL experience after coming to Australia confident that it will help make him an NBA-ready player.

Before Thornton began his NBL campaign, Boston Celtics scouting director David Levin said it will take some time for Thornton to develop in to an NBA-ready point guard.

“Coming from a smaller conference in college, and shifting from a primary scorer role in college to playing point guard, we knew it would take time for Marcus to adjust,” Levin said.

“We drafted him because he is an extremely smart, high character person, loves to work and is driven to be great.”

Originally published as Sydney Kings guard Marcus Thornton must take game to ‘next level’ to fulfil NBA dream