The Brooklyn Nets have acquired 26-year-old shooting guard Marcus Thornton from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for forward Reggie Evans and guard Jason Terry, according to David Aldridge.
Thornton has averaged career-lows across the board in points per game (8.3), rebounds per game (2.7), assists per game (1.0), field goal percentage (.381), and three-point percentage (.318) through 46 games (26 starts) this season. In his first four seasons with the New Orleans (then-)Hornets and Kings, Thornton averaged 14.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 26.6 minutes per game.
The Nets acquired Terry in July 2013 as part of the package to acquire Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics, but Terry underwent knee surgery in the offseason and has struggled in a Nets uniform. Evans was the team’s starting power forward for 56 games last season and set an NBA record for total rebounding percentage, and Kevin Garnett ensured he’d stay on the team in the offseason. But Evans struggled to fit into the Nets rotation under Jason Kidd, shooting a career-low 39 percent and playing in just 30 games.
The trade may preclude a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire forward Jordan Hill, the seventh overall pick in the 2009 draft. Adding Hill without shedding any other salary would mean the Nets would pay roughly $16.6 million in luxury tax alone, a tax the team is reportedly willing to pay. That figure would put the total financial commitment by Mikhail Prokhorov to this roster at well over $200 million, a staggering figure.
Howard Beck of Bleacher Report reports that a Hill-to-Nets deal is a “longshot“.
The Nets are not the only team pursuing Hill, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Phoenix Suns are also interested in the big man. Hill has averaged 11.4 rebounds per 36 minutes in his careeer.
Thornton is owed $8.05 million in 2013-14 and $8.575 million in 2014-15, and his salary in total will add a little over $3.4 million to Brooklyn’s tax figure.
