Laney: NBA won’t come to BR, so BR goes to NBA

• By GARY LANEY
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 10, 2009

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The National Basketball Association isn’t going to put a team in Baton Rouge.

So the city is trying to bring a team to the NBA.

When Marcus Thornton signed a contract with the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday, the second-round draft pick took a step closer to being the fourth born-and-raised local player active in the NBA.

The former LSU star and Tara High graduate joined ex-local Tigers Glen Davis of the Boston Celtics, Brandon Bass of the Dallas Mavericks, and Tyrus Thomas of the Chicago Bulls as Capital City players in the league.

“They started this thing off,” Thornton said. “I’m trying to follow their lead.”

First, Thornton, last year’s Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, needs to make the Hornets, and he seems to have the tools to give New Orleans something it lacked last season: instant offense off the bench.

The 6-foot-4 shooting guard has a quick, fade-away release that allows him to get shots off in traffic, and he has a knack for finishing drives to the bucket while taking contact thanks to a chiseled frame that, according to pre-draft camps, contains an amazingly low 4.8 percent body fat in 194 pounds.

One doesn’t score 21.5 points per game in the SEC, like Thornton did last season, if he isn’t built to score.

The Hornets’ veteran backups at the position weren’t particularly efficient scorers last year, but they have had their moments in their careers.

Morris Peterson, a soon-to-be 32-year-old, averaged 16.8 points per game for the Toronto Raptors in 2006, but he played just 43 games and averaged 4.4 points in a season marred by a foot injury.

Devin Brown, an eight-year pro who will turn 31 in December, averaged 5.2 points off the bench. In his best season, he averaged 11.6 points per game in 2006.

Starting guard Rasual Butler’s contract expires after this season, adding another element to the competition.

It’s not likely New Orleans would give up two second-round draft picks for Thornton — the Hornets traded for him on draft day after Miami selected him — then cut him, so it seems more likely that the discussion will be exactly where Thornton will fit, not if there is a place for him.