He did get the one part right that screams out not to go into the season with expectations of 30+ minutes a night for 82 games plus the playoffs out of Sully
a bad back that only lasted half a season
I do not trust players who have had any type of back issues. There has to be in place ways to limit the amount of time the back is going to have game level stress on it so the talent is there long time.
Back injuries are not to be trifled with, that's for sure.
However, my (limited) understanding of the nature of Sullinger's back issue is that the surgery he got should help prevent it from being an ongoing concern.
I wouldn't expect Sullinger to be at 100% until the later part of next season, but beyond that I think he'll be fine. Certainly there's no reason to act like he's a lemon just because he had to get surgery halfway through the season. They knew coming in that it was probably going to happen sooner or later, and they picked him anyway, I think, because they felt he would be useful before and after the issue was addressed.
In the half season he played, Sullinger was more than just an okay player. He was a very solid player, especially when you consider that he's only 20 and it was his first year in the league. Big men with that kind of talent, production, intelligence, and work ethic are hard to come by.