Sydney Kings' newest signing Marcus Thornton has moved into fellow import Josh Childress' pad, but won't be cramping his style.

Thornton – the No.45 NBA draft pick who signed with the Kings last month – landed in Sydney on Sunday, and even though he has never met the former NBA star, he is crashing at Childress' home in Putney until he finds his feet.

Childress does not arrive in Sydney until late next week but has told his business associate Manuel Grant – who stayed in Sydney when Childress returned to the US for a few months – to look after the Kings' newest import.

The American pair are on texting terms and have spoken a few times on the phone.

Thornton, a 22-year-old Maryland College graduate, has more than just an address in common with Childress; he too was devastated he could not bring his beloved collection of shoes with him from the US.

He said he could bring only "six or eight" pairs through customs and admired the fact Childress owns 800.

"I do love my shoes too," Thornton told Fairfax Media in his first Australian interview. "I have about 150 pairs. I was trying to pack much lighter, so I couldn't bring as many through as I would have liked. I'm sure I'll bring back more than I came with."

It is likely Thornton and Childress, and potentially Beast – Childress' chow chow dog, who is still struggling to get through customs – will share an apartment for a few weeks before the new recruit moves to his own place in Ryde.

The 193-centimetre guard has spent the past few months playing in the NBA Summer League for the Boston Celtics.

A number of auspicious performances caught the eye of Kings scouts, who swooped on his signature, knowing he would almost certainly return to the US after the NBL season ends in February.

"NBA is the highest level of basketball you can play and having two guys, especially Childress, playing in actual league games ... playing with those top-level guys I think will carry over quite nicely," Thornton said.

"There's a lot of other good guys in this team from what I've seen, and so far it looks like a pretty good season."

 

Not a bad way to start... @m3thornton #CanShoot #WeAreKings #NBL16 #hardball

A video posted by Sydney Kings (@officialsydneykings) on Aug 24, 2015 at 8:49pm PDT

If required, Thornton would be happy to take up a leadership role at the Kings, something he did in his four-year stint at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg.

He is not so sure, however, about getting rid of the shoulder-length dreadlocks he has been growing since he was a boy.

"I've had long hair since I was nine. I started my dreadlocks when I was in junior high school, so about 17," Thornton said. "It's not that much of a problem [when I play]. I tie it back to keep it out of my face. Every now and then it might affect me, but it's mostly out of the way."

pic.twitter.com/jlyTZwUUgN— Marcus Thornton (@M3Thornton) December 25, 2014

Thornton said he would not return to the US satisfied unless the Kings snapped their 11-year NBL title drought.

"Every team you're on, no matter the situation, your goal is to win," he said. "From what I've seen so far, we have a great chance of winning ... I think we'll put ourselves in a great position to put ourselves back on top."