Who do you like at SF?

[Ruzious]

Thornton and defense should never be mentioned in the same sentence. Undersized with poor agility is a lethal combination.

His max verticle reach (12'1) was 2nd in the entire 2007 draft - an inch shy of Greg Oden's. He'd be 2nd to Favors in this year's draft - tied with Stanley Robinson.

[DaRealHibachi]

Thornton and defense should never be mentioned in the same sentence. Undersized with poor agility is a lethal combination.

Melo & Lebron share about the same height and are respectively 10 & 20 pounds heavier... Not to mention that both (or Lebron alone) are physical beasts... How exactly is AT undersized...???

[montestewart]

Thornton and defense should never be mentioned in the same sentence. Undersized with poor agility is a lethal combination.

His max verticle reach (12'1) was 2nd in the entire 2007 draft - an inch shy of Greg Oden's. He'd be 2nd to Favors in this year's draft - tied with Stanley Robinson.

Those numbers apply to our Thornton? Wow.

His defense generally looked pretty good on the Wizards, and he didn't look seem to greatly suffer from lack of agility. Bruce Bowen was undersized too. Not saying Thornton can be Bowen, but if he could develop that part of his game more, he might be worth keeping around.

[WizarDynasty]

Thornton standing reach is extremely under sized for a lock down sf. Standing reach for lockdown sf is 9'0. Lockdown agility is 11 seconds or lower if u wanna go look at the draft express measurement history.

[no D in Hibachi]

I hope Thornton has been watching Ron Artest during the playoffs. I think both have similar builds, both are country strong, and have herky jerky offensive games. Artest is who Thornton should pattern his game after.

[WizarDynasty]

Thornton is 6'5 without shoes his standing reach is 8'7 his lane agility was absolutely horrible 12 seconds.
Thornton height and length are that of sg not a small forward. What makes thing worse is that he has horrible agility on defensive allowing easy dribble penetration. The only time he is adequate is when he can use his strength defending perimeter post up player like carmelo. Even then he doesn't have the length to challenge a 6'9 players shot due to his 8'6 standing reach which is fine for a sg but definitely not a small forward that has to cover the best perimeter player each night since gil is at sg. If thornton is starting next to arenas. Grunfeld should be fired five games into the season. I am not even going to look at the boxscore it will be a waste. If u are going to have an undersized small forward starting at least let him have exceptional agility like howard..sub. 11 second lane agility. Thornton lane agility is in putrid 12 seconds...thornton agility is worse than chris kaman who is a seven footer. Disgustingly sad that he starts for us. Only caron's agility was worse in the 12 seconds for lane agility. Signature grunfeld...gets stuck with everyone trash because he ignores lane agility and we get roasted on the perimeter every night. Ignores standing reach of 9'0 for sf and we give up highest 3pt percentage. Pathetic.

[Bickerstaff]

Only caron's agility was worse in the 12 seconds for lane agility. Signature grunfeld...gets stuck with everyone trash because he ignores lane agility and we get roasted on the perimeter every night.

Trading Kwame for Caron was getting stuck with someone else's trash?

[dangermouse]

1) This is a big man heavy draft.
2) We need a good defensive big.
3) Sf is the easiest position to fill.
4) Bigs take longer to develop, thus the sooner we draft one the better.
5) Next year isn't shaping up to be a big man heavy draft.
6) There is almost always a SF steal in the late first round (just not this year).

Conclusion: if we trade up, it ought to be for a big.

+1

Also, Al Thornton 6'5" without shoes? He wearing stiletto's out there? On the court he looks taller than say, Caron Butler, but like, a hair shorter than Melo.

[willbcocks]

1) This is a big man heavy draft.
2) We need a good defensive big.
3) Sf is the easiest position to fill.
4) Bigs take longer to develop, thus the sooner we draft one the better.
5) Next year isn't shaping up to be a big man heavy draft.
6) There is almost always a SF steal in the late first round (just not this year).

Conclusion: if we trade up, it ought to be for a big.

+1

I agree with this in theory. Now's the time to be drafting a big to run with Wall. The problem is the bust potential on most of these picks seems very high, and most of them seem like Javale clones. I would trade up to 8-10 to get Patterson or 15-20 to get Davis (if he falls), but the rest of those guys are pretty meh.

[pancakes3]

i don't think there's a pf in the draft outside of favors that could play better than blatche.

i also think that the black hayward - Lazar Hayward - is an intriguing sf prospect. a jared dudley type imo. i'd be willing to reach for him with the 2nd, or buy a later 2nd to take him. ps, he gives a pretty good interview.

surprising to see paul george working his way into the mid lotto already.

[kevinbs]

Qyntel Woods - Google him

[AceDegenerate]

^- aka the Next T-Mac.

[daSwami]

Thornton is 6'5 without shoes his standing reach is 8'7 his lane agility was absolutely horrible 12 seconds.
Thornton height and length are that of sg not a small forward. What makes thing worse is that he has horrible agility on defensive allowing easy dribble penetration. The only time he is adequate is when he can use his strength defending perimeter post up player like carmelo. Even then he doesn't have the length to challenge a 6'9 players shot due to his 8'6 standing reach which is fine for a sg but definitely not a small forward that has to cover the best perimeter player each night since gil is at sg. If thornton is starting next to arenas. Grunfeld should be fired five games into the season. I am not even going to look at the boxscore it will be a waste. If u are going to have an undersized small forward starting at least let him have exceptional agility like howard..sub. 11 second lane agility. Thornton lane agility is in putrid 12 seconds...thornton agility is worse than chris kaman who is a seven footer. Disgustingly sad that he starts for us. Only caron's agility was worse in the 12 seconds for lane agility. Signature grunfeld...gets stuck with everyone trash because he ignores lane agility and we get roasted on the perimeter every night. Ignores standing reach of 9'0 for sf and we give up highest 3pt percentage. Pathetic.

Yeah but you failed to mention how bowed his legs are. Seriously though, if you're going to use statistics to support your opinion at the very least use accurate #s. Thorton measures 6 5.75 w/o shoes (not 6 5" - if you're going to round down by 3/4", then you should do it for everyone), which is only a half-inch shorter than Melo (who, imho, is the best SF in the league and thus the basis by which SFs should be measured). Thorton's standing reach is 8' 8" (not 8'6" as you say above) which puts him equal to Melo (going by your round-down method). And as for lane agility, I haven't seen any expert analysis equating lane agility with NBA success. If so, Raymond Felton would be considered an elite player in the league.

[WizarDynasty]

Just scratching his head. Carmelo anthony and defense in the same sentence....still scratches his head. Carmelo anthony playing defense next to arenas...still scratxhes his head. Oh I get it we are going to be the old wizards and outscore everyone since we don't need an elite level perimeter defender. Took a while for to figure out that angle but it all became so clear. I think that was grunfeld's plan too.

[montestewart]

Just scratching his head. Carmelo anthony and defense in the same sentence....still scratches his head. Carmelo anthony playing defense next to arenas...still scratxhes his head. Oh I get it we are going to be the old wizards and outscore everyone since we don't need an elite level perimeter defender. Took a while for to figure out that angle but it all became so clear. I think that was grunfeld's plan too.

In other words, Thornton is a good defender.

[WizarDynasty]

Its inevitable that wizards will be horrible defensively with a line up that has thornton starting next to arenas and since grunfeld created it he will inevitably get the ax. Win win situation.

[fugop]

I actually agree that Thornton is a mediocre defender, though it's despite his physical assets, not because of. He's going to have to learn how to play team defense, like much of the rest of our team, and it's not clear that Flip is the right guy to teach.

I'm reluctant to indulge the measurement fetishist, but here are recently drafted, ostensible SFs with standing reach of 9'0" or better from the DX database:

Austin Daye - 2009
Kevin Durant - 2007
Ersan Ilyasova - 2005
Jared Jeffries - 2002
Anthony Randolph - 2008
Matt Freije - 2004
Luol Deng - 2004
Al-Farouq Aminu - 2010
Julian Wright - 2007
Marvin Williams - 2005
Hakim Warrick - 2005
Donte Green - 2008
Sean Banks - 2005

Luol Deng and Kevin Durant are the only above average defenders on that list. The others are, with the exception of Jeffries, Warrick, and Banks, young and may yet develop into competent defenders. There aren't measurements for Prince. He's a third rangy SF who can be added to the sample -- I'll grant that his reach is over 9'.

A good standing reach is a nice asset for a defensive player. But it's neither necessary nor sufficient, and shouldn't be an object of obsession.

[nate33]

Marvin Williams is a pretty good defender. And so is Jeffries. Neither guys are Bruce Bowen, but they're good enough to guard the opposing teams' best big man without embarrassing themselves.

[Ruzious]

Thornton is 6'5 without shoes his standing reach is 8'7 his lane agility was absolutely horrible 12 seconds.
Thornton height and length are that of sg not a small forward. What makes thing worse is that he has horrible agility on defensive allowing easy dribble penetration. The only time he is adequate is when he can use his strength defending perimeter post up player like carmelo. Even then he doesn't have the length to challenge a 6'9 players shot due to his 8'6 standing reach which is fine for a sg but definitely not a small forward that has to cover the best perimeter player each night since gil is at sg. If thornton is starting next to arenas. Grunfeld should be fired five games into the season. I am not even going to look at the boxscore it will be a waste. If u are going to have an undersized small forward starting at least let him have exceptional agility like howard..sub. 11 second lane agility. Thornton lane agility is in putrid 12 seconds...thornton agility is worse than chris kaman who is a seven footer. Disgustingly sad that he starts for us. Only caron's agility was worse in the 12 seconds for lane agility. Signature grunfeld...gets stuck with everyone trash because he ignores lane agility and we get roasted on the perimeter every night. Ignores standing reach of 9'0 for sf and we give up highest 3pt percentage. Pathetic.

He's hard to shoot over, because...

And if you have shot-blockers in the middle, that's especially important because...

Only WD is permitted to answer, because everyone else can probably figure it out in 5 seconds.

[DaRealHibachi]

Thornton is 6'5 without shoes his standing reach is 8'7 his lane agility was absolutely horrible 12 seconds.
Thornton height and length are that of sg not a small forward. What makes thing worse is that he has horrible agility on defensive allowing easy dribble penetration. The only time he is adequate is when he can use his strength defending perimeter post up player like carmelo. Even then he doesn't have the length to challenge a 6'9 players shot due to his 8'6 standing reach which is fine for a sg but definitely not a small forward that has to cover the best perimeter player each night since gil is at sg. If thornton is starting next to arenas. Grunfeld should be fired five games into the season. I am not even going to look at the boxscore it will be a waste. If u are going to have an undersized small forward starting at least let him have exceptional agility like howard..sub. 11 second lane agility. Thornton lane agility is in putrid 12 seconds...thornton agility is worse than chris kaman who is a seven footer. Disgustingly sad that he starts for us. Only caron's agility was worse in the 12 seconds for lane agility. Signature grunfeld...gets stuck with everyone trash because he ignores lane agility and we get roasted on the perimeter every night. Ignores standing reach of 9'0 for sf and we give up highest 3pt percentage. Pathetic.

He's hard to shoot over, because...

And if you have shot-blockers in the middle, that's especially important because...

Only WD is permitted to answer, because everyone else can probably figure it out in 5 seconds.