Los Angeles Clippers: Complete 2017 offseason grades
Sin City stuns in Vegas
This is the time of year when many fans and analysts around the NBA start to draw overly strong conclusions from Summer League games. The games are not always a great indicator of future success. In fact, inconsistent play among everyone from the top lottery picks to the undrafted rookies and older players vying for an NBA shot is almost to be expected.
The 2012 co-MVPs were Damian Lillard…and Josh Selby. Jonas Valanciunas won in 2013, and was followed in 2014 by Glen Rice Jr., who has played 16 career games and last played in the NBA during the 2014-15 season.
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With all that being said up front, Sindarius Thornwell was very impressive in Summer League. The aptly-nicknamed (at least on Twitter) Sin City averaged 14.2 points per game in Summer League. He was not particularly efficient from the field, but he got to the free throw line a whopping 32 times in just four games.
Thornwell also has enough size to guard multiple positions with his NBA-ready body and 6’5″ frame. He notably demanded to guard Brandon Ingram after Ingram eviscerated the rest of the team in his lone Summer League game. While Thornwell did not exactly shut Ingram down, he guarded him better than any other Clippers player.
Sindarius Thornwell did not show much shooting touch in Summer League. However, he did shoot 39.5 percent from deep in his senior season of college while improbably leading South Carolina to the Final Four with strong play on both ends of the floor. He will probably never start, but it is hard to see him not sticking around in the NBA as a solid role player for the next decade. For the 48th pick, that is truly phenomenal value.
Grade: A