Poll: Is Jared Sullinger a Celtic in 16-17?

[crimson_stallion]

no. please no

Don't pickup team option on Amir

sign Zeller to a 4 year 8 million a year deal

So our frontcourt situation will look like

Zeller, KO, Jerebko, Mickey

Draft one legit PF/C prospects or two with good potential

"NO NO NO NO! He's taking minutes from my BAE Olynyk, can't have that!!"

no.

Sullinger is an undersized center that has limited offensive game.   He is near antoine walkering it out form the 3 pt line. 

Come back at me when Sullinger is shooting 8 3PTA a game....

If Sully can be a perennial all-star that leads our team deep into the playoffs, then I will be pretty psyched.

Sully. Perennial All-Star.

Lolz

[slamtheking]

There is a missing option here:

"No, some team will over pay and Boston will not match". 

I have no problems bringing him back if he's willing to sign in the $8m - $12m a year range, but I think some team is going to offer him more than he is worth, and Danny will not match.

well if we're mentioning missing options, there's an obvious one missing:

"Won't matter, he won't survive Triboy's murderous onslaught for taking away minutes from his binky Mickey"

[crimson_stallion]

There is a missing option here:

"No, some team will over pay and Boston will not match". 

I have no problems bringing him back if he's willing to sign in the $8m - $12m a year range, but I think some team is going to offer him more than he is worth, and Danny will not match.

well if we're mentioning missing options, there's an obvious one missing:

"Won't matter, he won't survive Triboy's murderous onslaught for taking away minutes from his binky Mickey"

To be fair, I actually somewhat kinda agree with him lol

Don't get me wrong I don't think Mickey is near Sully's level as a player yet, but I think there is a good chance he will eventually be significantly better.

Every draft year there seems to be one or two guys who get taken late in the draft who surprise and become really nice players, and I could see Mickey being one of those guys.  He just seems to be comfortable in the NBA game - he doesn't get many minutes, but when he DOES step on the court, good things tend to happen. 

I also think we have  a real need for a big with Mickey's specific set of skills - one who is mobile enough to defend multiple positions, can step in and protect the rim, and can haul in rebounds at a nice rate.  Throw in his ability to hit that midrange jumper (which has been proven by Brandon Bass to be an effective tool in this league) and what seems to be a pretty nice ability to finish around the basket...

I think he could be a really nice player.  Not a star or anything, but a really nice player.

[Alleyoopster]

There is a missing option here:

"No, some team will over pay and Boston will not match". 

I have no problems bringing him back if he's willing to sign in the $8m - $12m a year range, but I think some team is going to offer him more than he is worth, and Danny will not match.

well if we're mentioning missing options, there's an obvious one missing:

"Won't matter, he won't survive Triboy's murderous onslaught for taking away minutes from his binky Mickey"

To be fair, I actually somewhat kinda agree with him lol

Don't get me wrong I don't think Mickey is near Sully's level as a player yet, but I think there is a good chance he will eventually be significantly better.

Every draft year there seems to be one or two guys who get taken late in the draft who surprise and become really nice players, and I could see Mickey being one of those guys.  He just seems to be comfortable in the NBA game - he doesn't get many minutes, but when he DOES step on the court, good things tend to happen. 

I also think we have  a real need for a big with Mickey's specific set of skills - one who is mobile enough to defend multiple positions, can step in and protect the rim, and can haul in rebounds at a nice rate.  Throw in his ability to hit that midrange jumper (which has been proven by Brandon Bass to be an effective tool in this league) and what seems to be a pretty nice ability to finish around the basket...

I think he could be a really nice player.  Not a star or anything, but a really nice player.

The old basketball cliche..."You can't coach height" may have a parallel here. You can't coach strength either. Sully gets a lot of rebounds because he is so strong the vertically built centers can't move him.
Jordan may be strong, but Sully has so much more mass to compensate for that. Thus, I don't see him as a replacement for Sully.

[BudweiserCeltic]

There is a missing option here:

"No, some team will over pay and Boston will not match". 

I have no problems bringing him back if he's willing to sign in the $8m - $12m a year range, but I think some team is going to offer him more than he is worth, and Danny will not match.

well if we're mentioning missing options, there's an obvious one missing:

"Won't matter, he won't survive Triboy's murderous onslaught for taking away minutes from his binky Mickey"

To be fair, I actually somewhat kinda agree with him lol

Don't get me wrong I don't think Mickey is near Sully's level as a player yet, but I think there is a good chance he will eventually be significantly better.

Every draft year there seems to be one or two guys who get taken late in the draft who surprise and become really nice players, and I could see Mickey being one of those guys.  He just seems to be comfortable in the NBA game - he doesn't get many minutes, but when he DOES step on the court, good things tend to happen. 

I also think we have  a real need for a big with Mickey's specific set of skills - one who is mobile enough to defend multiple positions, can step in and protect the rim, and can haul in rebounds at a nice rate.  Throw in his ability to hit that midrange jumper (which has been proven by Brandon Bass to be an effective tool in this league) and what seems to be a pretty nice ability to finish around the basket...

I think he could be a really nice player.  Not a star or anything, but a really nice player.

The old basketball cliche..."You can't coach height" may have a parallel here. You can't coach strength either. Sully gets a lot of rebounds because he is so strong the vertically built centers can't move him.
Jordan may be strong, but Sully has so much more mass to compensate for that. Thus, I don't see him as a replacement for Sully.

What's gets lost in all of this with Sullinger is that he has long arms and has great timing, and more importantly, incredibly good hands.

For all the boohoo's about Sullinger height and undersized C... he has one of the top low post defenses in the league and is out-rebounding his counter part on a regular basis.

So at least for this season, and how it's transpired, there's really nothing to criticize Sully floor on this particular context. Disappointingly, for me at least, his shot keeps being as inconsistent as ever. It's maddening for me because I have some very high hopes for his shots. His shot selection has been much improved, and his shooting form looks good. Just isn't making them for some reason. And let's not get started with the free-throws. But otherwise, Sullinger has been quite awesome for us... and playing within himself and the flow of the offense.

[Vermont Green]

Hard to say if Sullinger will be back or not.  He is having a down season in my opinion, even though he is playing pretty well.  The problem is that he seems to have declining athleticism which is a really bad thing for a player as young as him.

He has the strength and court awareness to rebound, and he is doing that very well.  I think these two traits allow him to be a decent defender as well.  His offense/scoring is suffering though and that is bringing his value down.  He seems worse than last year athletically even though it was reported that he worked very hard in the off season.  All that work seemed to be gone in a couple of months.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Hard to say if Sullinger will be back or not.  He is having a down season in my opinion, even though he is playing pretty well.  The problem is that he seems to have declining athleticism which is a really bad thing for a player as young as him.

He has the strength and court awareness to rebound, and he is doing that very well.  I think these two traits allow him to be a decent defender as well.  His offense/scoring is suffering though and that is bringing his value down.  He seems worse than last year athletically even though it was reported that he worked very hard in the off season.  All that work seemed to be gone in a couple of months.

A few things... a player playing well, and still being considered a down season is actually a good thing. You're acknowledging that he's playing well, yet in your view, he's having a subpar performance vs. the level he could be playing at. I see that as a positive. He should be better yet playing well. That's good.

Also, I'll take this "decent defender" any day of the week.



Full image:
http://i.imgur.com/dwJ82Lq.jpg

[Vermont Green]

Hard to say if Sullinger will be back or not.  He is having a down season in my opinion, even though he is playing pretty well.  The problem is that he seems to have declining athleticism which is a really bad thing for a player as young as him.

He has the strength and court awareness to rebound, and he is doing that very well.  I think these two traits allow him to be a decent defender as well.  His offense/scoring is suffering though and that is bringing his value down.  He seems worse than last year athletically even though it was reported that he worked very hard in the off season.  All that work seemed to be gone in a couple of months.

A few things... a player playing well, and still being considered a down season is actually a good thing. You're acknowledging that he's playing well, yet in your view, he's having a subpar performance vs. the level he could be playing at. I see that as a positive. He should be better yet playing well. That's good.

Also, I'll take this "decent defender" any day of the week.



Full image:
http://i.imgur.com/dwJ82Lq.jpg

Yes, playing well, including on defense but what worries me is what appears to be declining athleticism.  To me, he is trending in the wrong direction as the season wears on.  I think he is uniquely skilled, but I am concerned by the offensive regression.

[jpotter33]

no. please no

Don't pickup team option on Amir

sign Zeller to a 4 year 8 million a year deal

So our frontcourt situation will look like

Zeller, KO, Jerebko, Mickey

Draft one legit PF/C prospects or two with good potential

"NO NO NO NO! He's taking minutes from my BAE Olynyk, can't have that!!"

Bud, do you think Olynyk and Sully can play together long-term? To me, that's the ultimate question that determines whether or not Sully is retained.

I really like both players, and I'd like to keep both of them long-term. However, I think they both end up commanding eight figure contracts, which I'm not really willing to give both of them. It'd be pretty much a toss-up, but I think I lean more towards KO's height and offensive versatility than Sully's rebounding.

I also have this notion in my head of a Cousins/KO offensive frontcourt, which would be ridiculously dynamic and versatile on the offensive end.

[mctyson]

Yes -- Sully will have limited options in FA due to be a C/PF tweener with weight problems + Ainge will not want an asset to walk out the door for nothing.

Well this is why I would say he is likely to be traded this year, if they are not interested in signing him long-term for what he wants.

I think he will get Tristan Thompson money and, while he might be worth that, the Cs have better uses for their cap space.

[ssspence]

Poll: is Sullinger fat?

A) yes
B) yes
C) all of the above

[BudweiserCeltic]

Yes -- Sully will have limited options in FA due to be a C/PF tweener with weight problems + Ainge will not want an asset to walk out the door for nothing.

Well this is why I would say he is likely to be traded this year, if they are not interested in signing him long-term for what he wants.

I think he will get Tristan Thompson money and, while he might be worth that, the Cs have better uses for their cap space.

Nitpicking a bit, but he won't factor much into next year's cap space. It'll be in the future years if anything.

Celtics will need to explore their options and have some choices to make ahead of him, but trading or not trading Sullinger won't have much to do with next year's cap space. Now if Sullinger in free-agency pushes to get signed earlier than Ainge is ready for, then it might become an issue... but so far history has shown that Ainge has handled those situations well. All to say, that if Ainge intent to keeps Sullinger, he won't let him affect our cap space next year. Now if he still has doubts, then we'll see how it goes.

[jmen788]

I wouldn't pay him more than 10 -12 mil a year, and it would be to be a 6th man - I don't see a championship team that he starts on. Him & Kelly off the bench maybe...

[Celtics4ever]

It really depends, on several things:

1)  Can stay healthy the whole season
2) Can he keep himself in some semblance of shape
3)  His asking price. 

If he fails at 1 or 2, the answer will be no.   We need building blocks, not shaky foundation stones.   Time will tell, I wish him well.

If he wants big time money, I think the answer will be a no.  If it is a fair market value then the chances rise that we will keep him here.  The key will be is the price right.

I think Lee and Sullinger are the two bigs most likely to be dealt for a star.  He has a marketable skill in rebounding that teams always need.  I think if a deal goes down, he may be a piece.   Ainge wanted a scoring big, will we need him? 

[Snakehead]

Hard to say if Sullinger will be back or not.  He is having a down season in my opinion, even though he is playing pretty well.  The problem is that he seems to have declining athleticism which is a really bad thing for a player as young as him.

He has the strength and court awareness to rebound, and he is doing that very well.  I think these two traits allow him to be a decent defender as well.  His offense/scoring is suffering though and that is bringing his value down.  He seems worse than last year athletically even though it was reported that he worked very hard in the off season.  All that work seemed to be gone in a couple of months.

A few things... a player playing well, and still being considered a down season is actually a good thing. You're acknowledging that he's playing well, yet in your view, he's having a subpar performance vs. the level he could be playing at. I see that as a positive. He should be better yet playing well. That's good.

Also, I'll take this "decent defender" any day of the week.



Full image:
http://i.imgur.com/dwJ82Lq.jpg

Yes, playing well, including on defense but what worries me is what appears to be declining athleticism.  To me, he is trending in the wrong direction as the season wears on.  I think he is uniquely skilled, but I am concerned by the offensive regression.

Keep in mind last season he put on a lot of weight in season so don't assume he will stay the same or get better, unfortunately. 

I feel similar to you Vermont.  I like Olynyk more for sure and I still have concerns about Sully as good as he can be as a rebounder and how much skill he sometimes can show.  His defensive effort was a lot better this year early but not sure it has kept up as much lately.

We will see.  In a vaccum if the price is reasonable I'd say yes but that isn't thinking about a possible trade or whatever.  There are a lot of things up in the air.

Like maybe we cut the Amir deal next year and Sully makes a lot more sense (he might make something around Amir's 12 million).  There are just a lot of possibilities so tough to say anything right now.