This is the second in a five part series in which I analyze the 2011 Free Agent market by position.  As a source I used ESPN's list of 2011 NBA Free Agents and for statistics I used Basketball-Reference.  This list of Free Agents only includes players that were on a teams roster at the end of last season.  Also, please keep in mind that while I will use John Hollinger's PER (Player Efficiency Rating), this is not a be-all, end-all stat.  There are several deficiencies, particularly that it is not a reliable measure for a player's defensive acumen, so keep that in mind.

Fortunately for us, while Marcus is a Free Agent this year, he's a Restricted Free Agent, meaning that the Kings can match any offer that Thornton gets.  It's extremely unlikely that Thornton isn't retained by the Kings and I have a feeling that as soon as the lockout ends the Kings will work the best to put an attractive offer on the table for Thornton to get him locked up as soon as possible.

Statistics used are career averages to give a larger sample size.  Players with  ® next to their name are Restricted Free Agents.

Not bad, eh?  Much better than the available Point Guards, for sure.  Marcus Thornton's name immediately pops out on the list at the top of Player PER once you take away McGrady, Redd and Josh Howard, all three of who have inflated career statistics from their pre-injury riddled years.  Thornton is also the youngest player on the list to boot.  It looks like we've got ourselves a keeper there.  Unfortunately other teams will see the value in him as well, which is why there remains a minuscule chance that he doesn't re-sign.  I don't see that happening, but if the Kings don't act quickly to lock him up for a reasonable price, we could see another team throwing a big offer at him either hoping to land him or to make the Kings match and lower the competition for other Free Agents by cutting our available spending money.  That would be less bad than losing him outright, but still annoying.

Aside from Marcus though there is still a lot of value to be had.  Assuming we keep him, that takes our sights off of some of the bigger names, and since keeping Marcus is the likely scenario, lets start with that premise.  At that point if we were going for a shooting guard we'd probably be going for a veteran role player.  

Josh Howard is also a no-go for me.  He's just way too injury prone, and he's never been a good shooter.  What defensive skill he did have has gone with his athleticism.  Michael Redd?  He's even more injury prone than Howard, but at least he can shoot.  I don't know if he has anything left in the tank though.  

Mike Dunleavy actually isn't as bad as you might think.  He can shoot, rebound well for a guard(career 14.9 DRB%), and pass.  He's also got the versatility to play three positions.  Dunleavy's a defensive sieve though, and he's also had a bit of an injury history.  Someone will offer him more money and a bigger role than we will, and it won't be a big loss.

Delonte West is statistically one of the guys I'd love to have off this list.  He can shoot, pass, and defend.  Unfortunately he's also mentally ill, which has caused problems with him wherever he's been.  Is that a risk a team like the Kings would be willing to take?  History suggests that Petrie isn't afraid to take a potential headcase if he thinks it will improve the team.

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Now what about if we lost Marcus Thornton?  Then there would be a pretty big hole to fill, and fortunately there is some talent available.

Jason Richardson and Jamal Crawford would provide the most immediate impact, but they're on the back-ends of their careers, and neither player is known for much else than scoring.  Of the two, I'd probably prefer Crawford because he's a much better passer but Richardson is the better defender.

A younger option would be J.R. Smith.  Smith is arguably the most talented player on this list, but he has his own problems (who doesn't?).  Defensively, Smith has made improvements, but he's still a minus defender despite having the athletic gifts to be a lot better.  Smith also makes a lot of bonehead plays:

Its impossible for me to talk about J.R. Smith and not link this video.  Still, if we lost Thornton, we could do worse than replacing him with Smith (like Willie Green).

The other two guys who stand out to me as possible Thornton replacements are Arron Afflalo and Nick Young.  Both, like Thornton, are Restricted Free Agents, and their respective teams like them a lot, which means they'd be very hard to acquire without overpaying.  Afflalo is the one I prefer.  He's a very efficient shooter (leading the list in True Shooting %) and hasn't shot less than 40% from three for the last three years.  He's also made strides as a defender, although he's not elite or anything.

Young is like a poor man's Kevin Martin.  He can shoot very well, so he does, a lot, and doesn't do much else, including defensively (also like Kevin!).  Unlike Kevin though he's not good at drawing contact and getting to the line.  Fortunately for him, he's also unlike Kevin in the fact that so far he's been relatively injury free.

Marcus Thornton is still the top priority.  But its nice to know we have options* in case the unthinkable happens and he signs elsewhere.

(Tomorrow, we take a look at the available Small Forwards)