With trade deadline looming, Marcus Thornton says he wants to stay in Boston

While Marcus Thornton said "it's been great" to finally go through a stretch without trades, allowing the Celtics to jell, he cautioned, "It's still not over with yet. (The trade deadline of) Feb. 19 is a long time from now, so we'll see how that goes too."

Thornton rattled off the deadline date off the top of his head, but vowed he's not thinking about the day approaching. Still, he must know his $8.6-million expiring contract could put him on the block, along with Prince and Brandon Bass, at the very least. One reporter asked what Thornton wanted.

"I would like to stay here," he said. "Who wouldn't? We've got a good thing going. But like I said, it's not controllable. I can't control it. So whatever happens, happens."

The veteran guard added: "For the time-being, everybody's just here playing. Off the court we're great with each other, so that helps too."

Is it normal for NBA players to know the exact date of the trade deadline?  My guess is probably not.  It's no surprise Thornton said he wants to stay--how often do you really see a guy in a post game interview answer a question like that with "Yeah, I want to get out of here and go to a contender"?  But whether he would like to remain with the Celtics or not, it's clear the trade deadline is on his mind.

At $8,575,000, Thornton is actually the second highest-paid player on Boston's roster (behind Gerald Wallace's $10.1 million).  As we've discussed before, Thornton's salary may be rather difficult to move.  As far as basketball skills go, his trade value is not that high.  I can't envision the Celtics being interested in taking on future contract dollars of a player (or players) with a talent level they could acquire for Thornton.  A trade like that would seem rather counterproductive for the rebuild.

Unless he's part of a much bigger deal, or they can pull off something beneficial for other expiring contracts, the Celtics best move may be to just hang on to Thornton for the rest of the season.




Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan