https://youtu.be/ZUqJoTBoT8o
Terence Davis is really doing his best to take advantage of his new circumstances in Sacramento after getting traded there from the Raptors at the trade deadline. Honestly, his surge in scoring reminds me of another Kings trade acquisition of yore, and if you don’t know who I’m talking about here, you should be abashed, ashamed, and, frankly, ostracized from the NBA fan community.
Of course, the player I’m thinking of is none other than chubby-cheeked legend Marcus Thornton.
Thornton was traded from the Hornets (which is what the New Orleans team was called in those days) to the Kings halfway through the 2010-11 season and immediately started putting up 20 PPG per game. Davis isn’t quite putting up 20 PPG per game (he’s sitting at 10 PPG per game for his short tenure with the Kings), but their per-36 scoring stats are roughly comparable given that Thornton was immediately getting 38 MPG from Kings coach Paul Westphal and Davis is still only receiving 20 MPG from Puke Faulton. Fun fact: the minutes Thornton was getting for that stint with the Kings would lead the league in MPG if it happened this season.
Thornton was able to parlay his strong play into a nice contract from the Kings, but he never reached those statistical heights again. Hopefully the story doesn’t repeat with Davis, although if it did, that would be the most Kings thing ever. To receive a young player on a cheap deal, have him ball out, and then have him regress immediately as soon as the big new checks start hitting his bank account. If you don’t like that, you don’t like Kings basketball.