Los Angeles Clippers: The disappearance of Sindarius Thornwell

Sindarius Thornwell was a solid contributor (for a rookie) early in the year for the Los Angeles Clippers. However, he has barely played since the Blake Griffin trade.

The Los Angeles Clippers have not exactly been a safe haven for rookies in recent years. The Doc Rivers-led front office was quite successful with veterans on minimum contracts, but young players were almost always left to rot on the end of the bench.

This season, a number of factors have led to a resurgence of young Clippers players. The team has taken advantage of the new two-way contracts better than anyone else in the league. Jamil Wilson, C.J. Williams and Tyrone Wallace have all been key contributors and starters this season. The Agua Caliente Clippers have also helped the NBA squad to develop its young talent.

Sindarius Thornwell has not been as wildly successful as the Clippers’ two-way players, but he has been a solid bench player on both ends of the court. However, he has fallen out of the rotation completely in the wake of the Blake Griffin trade. While removing him from the rotation makes sense in the context of a playoff push, Thornwell’s complete absence in recent weeks is still notable and somewhat confusing.

3-and-D potential

There are not many rookies who can come into the NBA and be successful on the defensive end right away. The massive jumps in complexity and athleticism from the college game to the NBA (as well as the athleticism jump and complexity jump from overseas basketball to the NBA) means that the rookies who can make an immediate defensive impact are few and far between.

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Sindarius Thornwell has been one of those rare rookies who is successful on the defensive end. At 6’5″ with a solid frame, Thornwell has the bulk to defend larger wings effectively. He also has much better defensive instincts than most first-year NBA players.

Thornwell has a Defensive Real Plus-Minus of 0.60 per ESPN.com — 15th among 107 qualified shooting guards. The Los Angeles Clippers give up 1.5 fewer points per 100 possession with Thornwell on the floor, per NBA.com.

In addition to his stalwart defense, Thornwell has proven that he can knock down shots from long range. After two miserable shooting years from deep in college (during his sophomore and junior seasons), there were reasons to worry about his jump shot despite his stellar shooting as a senior. However, Thornwell has knocked down 38.5 percent of his triples as a rookie (albeit on only 39 attempts, but still).

Future outlook

The Los Angeles Clippers appear to have found a solid 3-and-D prospect in Sindarius Thornwell, even if he has not been able to contribute much outside of those areas.

However, Thornwell has played just 65 seconds in the entire month of February. He averaged 13 minutes per game before the All-Star break. Even though his minuntes have been trending down since he was forced into a much larger role than anticipated in November, the degree of his reduction in minutes is still staggering.

Thornwell’s solid defensive play might be more related to his age (23) than his rookie status. Sindarius has grown into his body more than most rookies. His NBA-ready frame is a huge part of his defensive success.

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With Avery Bradley set to hit free agency after this season, Thornwell could be in line for a larger role next season that fits more in line with his role for most of the early portion of the season. Whether or not Thornwell remains out of the rotation down the stretch, the Clippers certainly appear to have done well with the 48th overall pick that they used to acquire him.