NEW YORK — Marcus Thornton made it five straight years that an LSU Tiger was chosen in the National Basketball Association draft Thursday night when the Baton Rouge guard was chosen in the second round of the nationally-televised draft.
Thornton’s selection came some four hours into the draft, by the Miami Heat with the 13th pick of the second round, the 43rd pick overall in the 60-pick draft.
However, approximately 15 minutes after the selection was made, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver came to the podium and announced that Thornton’s draft rights had been conveyed to the New Orleans Hornets for two future second round draft picks. Thornton did work out for the Hornets in recent weeks and received some complimentary reviews from New Orleans head coach Byron Scott.
The Hornets did not have a second round pick to select Thornton with if that was how they wished to go.
In the five-year run of selections, the Tigers had Brandon Bass selected in 2005, Tyrus Thomas in 2006, Glen Davis in 2007, Anthony Randolph in 2008 and Thornton in 2009. Thomas and Randolph were first round picks.
The 6-5 Thornton averaged 21.1 points this past season and earned consensus Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors and second team All-American honors.
Bass, who was a second round pick of the Hornets, was the last LSU player to suit up for the Hornets before he signed with the Dallas Mavericks.
2009 NBA Draft
Pick, Player, Position, Team, School/Club Team
1. Blake Griffin, PF, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma So.
2. Hasheem Thabeet, C, Memphis Grizzlies, Connecticut Jr.
3. James Harden, SG, Oklahoma City Thunder, Arizona State So.
4. Tyreke Evans, PG, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Fr.
5. Ricky Rubio, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves (from Washington)[a], DKV Joventut (Spain) 1990
6. Jonny Flynn, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves, Syracuse So.
7. Stephen Curry, PG/SG, Golden State Warriors, Davidson Jr.
8. Jordan Hill, PF, New York Knicks, Arizona Jr.
9. DeMar DeRozan, SG, Toronto Raptors, USC Fr.
10. Brandon Jennings, PG, Milwaukee Bucks, Lottomatica Roma (Italy) 1989
11. Terrence Williams, SG, New Jersey Nets, Louisville Sr.
12. Gerald Henderson, SG, Charlotte Bobcats, Duke Jr.
13. Tyler Hansbrough, PF, Indiana Pacers, North Carolina Sr.
14. Earl Clark, SF, Phoenix Suns, Louisville Jr.
15. Austin Daye, SF, Detroit Pistons, Gonzaga So.
16. James Johnson, SF/PF, Chicago Bulls, Wake Forest So.
17. Jrue Holiday, PG, Philadelphia 76ers, UCLA Fr.
18. Ty Lawson, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami,[b] traded to Denver)[A], North Carolina Jr.
19. Jeff Teague, PG, Atlanta Hawks, Wake Forest So.
20. Eric Maynor, PG, Utah Jazz, VCU Sr.
21. Darren Collison, PG, New Orleans Hornets, UCLA Sr.
22. V?ctor Claver, SF, Portland Trail Blazers (from Dallas)[c], Pamesa Valencia (Spain) 1988
23. Omri Casspi, SF, Sacramento Kings (from Houston)[d], Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 1988
24. B. J. Mullens, C, Dallas Mavericks (from Portland,[c] traded to Oklahoma City)[B], Ohio State Fr.
25. Rodrigue Beaubois, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder (from San Antonio,[e] traded to Dallas)[B], Cholet (France) 1988
26. Taj Gibson, PF, Chicago Bulls (from Denver via Oklahoma City)[f], USC Jr.
27. DeMarre Carroll, SF/PF, Memphis Grizzlies (from Orlando)[g], Missouri Sr.
28. Wayne Ellington, SG, Minnesota Timberwolves (from Boston)[h], North Carolina Jr.
29. Toney Douglas, PG/SG, Los Angeles Lakers (traded to New York)[C], Florida State Sr.
30. Christian Eyenga, SG/SF, Cleveland Cavaliers, CB Prat (Spain, 3rd division) 1989
Second round
Pick, Player, Pos, Team, School/Club Team
31. Jeff Pendergraph, PF, Sacramento Kings (traded to Portland)[D], Arizona State Sr.
32. Jermaine Taylor, SG, Washington Wizards (traded to Houston)[E], Central Florida Sr.
33. Dante Cunningham, SF/PF, Portland Trail Blazers (from LA Clippers)[i], Villanova Sr.
34. Sergio Llull, PG, Denver Nuggets (from Oklahoma City,[j] traded to Houston)[F], Real Madrid (Spain) 1987
35. DaJuan Summers, SF, Detroit Pistons (from Minnesota)[k], Georgetown Jr.
36. Sam Young, SF, Memphis Grizzlies[l], Pittsburgh Sr.
37. DeJuan Blair, PF, San Antonio Spurs (from Golden State via Phoenix)[m], Pittsburgh So.
38. Jon Brockman, PF, Portland Trail Blazers (from New York via Chicago,[n] traded to Sacramento)[D], Washington Sr.
39. Jonas Jerebko, SF, Detroit Pistons (from Toronto)[o], Angelico Biella (Italy) 1987
40. Derrick Brown, SF, Charlotte Bobcats (from New Jersey via Oklahoma City)[p], Xavier Jr.
41. Jodie Meeks, SG, Milwaukee Bucks, Kentucky Jr.
42. Patrick Beverley, PG, Los Angeles Lakers (from Charlotte,[q] traded to Miami)[G], BC Dnipro (Ukraine, 2nd division) 1989
43. Marcus Thornton, SG, Miami Heat (from Indiana,[r] traded to New Orleans)[H], LSU Sr.
44. Chase Budinger, SG, Detroit Pistons (traded to Houston)[I], Arizona Sr.
45. Nick Calathes, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves (from Philadelphia via Miami,[s] traded to Dallas)[J], Florida So.
46. Danny Green, SF, Cleveland Cavaliers (from Chicago)[t], North Carolina Sr.
47. Henk Norel, PF, Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami)[s], DKV Joventut (Spain) 1987
48. Taylor Griffin, PF, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma Sr.
49. Sergiy Gladyr, SG, Atlanta Hawks, MBC Mykolaiv (Ukraine, SuperLeague) 1989
50. Goran Suton, C, Utah Jazz, Michigan State Sr.
51. Jack McClinton, SG, San Antonio Spurs (from New Orleans via Toronto)[u], Miami (FL) Sr.
52. A. J. Price, PG, Indiana Pacers (from Dallas)[v], Connecticut Sr.
53. Nando de Colo, PG/SG, San Antonio Spurs (from Houston)[w], Cholet (France) 1987
54. Robert Vaden, SG, Charlotte Bobcats (from San Antonio,[x] traded to Oklahoma City)[K], UAB Sr.
55. Patrick Mills, PG, Portland Trail Blazers (from Denver)[n], Saint Mary’s (CA) So.
56. Ahmad Nivins, PF, Dallas Mavericks (from Portland)[c], Saint Joseph’s Sr.
57. Emir Preld?ič, SF, Phoenix Suns (from Orlando via Oklahoma City)[y], Fenerbah?e ?lker (Turkey) 1988
58. Lester Hudson, SG, Boston Celtics, Tennessee-Martin Sr.
59. Chinemelu Elonu, PF, Los Angeles Lakers, Texas A&M Jr.
60. Robert Dozier, SF/PF, Miami Heat (from Cleveland)[z], Memphis Sr.