Sully has developed better than Olynyk has.

[footey]

Ollie has a higher talent ceiling, but I think Sully is likely to be a better NBA player, because he works harder.  Just feel he gives more consistent effort.  Consistency is huge in the NBA.  Too many games where for whatever reason, foul trouble, fear, indifference, Ollie comes up short.  Enough time has passed where I feel it is unlikely to get better in any dramatic way. Hope he proves me wrong.

[vjcsmoke]

I feel Olynyk has more potential as well, on the offensive end of the spectrum.  He has shown an improvement on his body this year, and I think he will continue to grow into his role as a stretch 4/5.

As for Sullinger, a lot of concerns about him being able to take the weight off to make himself more effective.  He just hasn't done it yet.  The thing is that Sullinger has more trade value, so I'd be willing to move him if we could get a better pick in the upcoming draft or trade for a real rim protector.  Zeller is a good backup 5 but he's not a starting 5 'rim protector' type.

[LarBrd33]

I like both of those guys.  Both of them have limited ceilings, though.  I'm not sure either is a lock to be a long-term starter in this league.  I think both of them would have trouble finding starter minutes on a playoff team.

[Tr1boy]

Tonight's game showed KO has a higher ceiling than Sullinger. Sullinger shot 5-14 but worse was a team worse -23.    A few occasions he just stood there and let guys like Crawford and Chris Paul have open jump shots.   At least make some effort to distract. 

He used to pull down 10 plus rebounds but these days can't even seem to do this. 

Again like i have mentioned before, alot of these problems has to do with his weight issues.  I don't remember the last guy that is as big as sully, moves like sully that ever had alot of success in the nba. It is crucial he comes in the best shape of his life for next season

KO in the other hand again was passive most of the night, but did alot of the little things that didn't show up on the statsheet and finished with a +11 . Clippers announcers were gushing about his potential and with added strength and confidence could be a very good player.

[HomerSapien]

Tonight's game showed KO has a higher ceiling than Sullinger. Sullinger shot 5-14 but worse was a team worse -23.    A few occasions he just stood there and let guys like Crawford and Chris Paul have open jump shots.   At least make some effort to distract. 

He used to pull down 10 plus rebounds but these days can't even seem to do this.

Again like i have mentioned before, alot of these problems has to do with his weight issues.  I don't remember the last guy that is as big as sully, moves like sully that ever had alot of success in the nba. It is crucial he comes in the best shape of his life for next season

KO in the other hand again was passive most of the night again, but did alot of the little things that didn't show up on the statsheet and finished with a +11 . Clippers announcers were gushing about his potential and with added strength and confidence could be a very good player.

Used to as in 4 games ago? His rebounding totals for the past 5 games are 8, 8, 9, 10, 10. He didn't play great today but I think this is a little bit of an overstatement.

Just inconsistent, which is what is preventing his next step as a player.

[hwangjini_1]

one other factor to consider is that while neither are likely going to be stars and leaders of a championships team, both can be valuable contributors on such a team. i think with a very good center and other teammates both would play much better. neither can carry this team, but both will be better with better teammates.

which leads me to ask the question of what sort of center would compliment olly best, and, what sort would be best for sully to play next to?

for olly, someone who can play defense would is important, and a rebounder. a center who can play under the basket is essential for olly.

for sully, a defensive center is important too, but someone who parks under the basket would not be necessary. sully can, for short periods, work well under the basket and get rebounds. he is strong.

it is more complex than i state above, but i am just raising questions about the type of center that would work best with these two.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

one other factor to consider is that while neither are likely going to be stars and leaders of a championships team, both can be valuable contributors on such a team. i think with a very good center and other teammates both would play much better. neither can carry this team, but both will be better with better teammates.

which leads me to ask the question of what sort of center would compliment olly best, and, what sort would be best for sully to play next to?

for olly, someone who can play defense would is important, and a rebounder. a center who can play under the basket is essential for olly.

for sully, a defensive center is important too, but someone who parks under the basket would not be necessary. sully can, for short periods, work well under the basket and get rebounds. he is strong.

it is more complex than i state above, but i am just raising questions about the type of center that would work best with these two.

Marc Gasol or Deandre Jordan. Need an excellent defender, someone who is good at help defense more importantly. Doesn't have to score, that would be a bonus. Of course Gasol would get his points and probably be 1-2 option on offense here.

[Vox_Populi]

Sullinger's already better now...Olynyk hasn't shown anything to make me believe that's going to change in the future. Then again, it might be increasingly safe to say, neither player has All-Star potential.

[Celtics4ever]

Sully is better now but he has not developed.  But that is not to say that either is a "quality starter".   Both have been starters.

work well under the basket and get rebounds. he is strong.

No he is heavy there is a difference.   It is a myth he is strong that people continue to believe.

Despite significant improvement, Sullinger still had 10.7% body fat. That’s not DeMarcus Cousins or Dexter Pittman level, but he should probably order the medium next time.

His 31-inch max vertical was sixth-worst, but his 7’1? wingspan gives him a solid max vertical reach. And the dude is sloooooow. Like, Peyton Manning slow. He was dead-last in lane agility, with the same time as the laterally-challenged Brook Lopez and JaVale McGee. He was also dead last in sprints. And despite all the talk about his overwhelming strength, his nine bench-press repetitions weren’t overly impressive.

http://www.sportsgrid.com/nba/nba-draft-combine-results/

So his strength is weight based and not strength based.

 I watched the game today and saw Barnes push him out of the lane. 

[inverselock]

Neither will be starters on a playoff team until they learn how to defend.

Sully is too slow.   Takes a couple of seconds to turn around.
KO is completely lost sometimes.

[Tr1boy]

Neither will be starters on a playoff team until they learn how to defend.

Sully is too slow.   Takes a couple of seconds to turn around.
KO is completely lost sometimes.

KO is not lost. He was lost last season. KO needs to stop fouling - playing too aggressively on the defensive end.   

Sullinger is a smart defender but needs to lose weight so he can "overhelp" at times.  You just can't let Chris Paul take a wide open three.  Even if you have no chance to block it, running to paul might disturb his focus

If Horford and Millsap can be effective starters (it's not like either have great length), Sully and KO could also(potentially).  Just need to iron things out and build better bodies. I have no doubt that KO will keep progressing with his body. He is more mobile and fit this season.  Sullinger is the guy i'm worried about.  Nothing about his body looks like has changed from season 1.   

[inverselock]

Neither will be starters on a playoff team until they learn how to defend.

Sully is too slow.   Takes a couple of seconds to turn around.
KO is completely lost sometimes.

KO is not lost. He was lost last season. KO needs to stop fouling - playing too aggressively on the defensive end.   

Sullinger is a smart defender but needs to lose weight so he can "overhelp" at times.  You just can't let Chris Paul take a wide open three.  Even if you have no chance to block it, running to paul might disturb his focus

If Horford and Millsap can be effective starters (it's not like either have great length), Sully and KO could also(potentially).  Just need to iron things out and build better bodies. I have no doubt that KO will keep progressing with his body. He is more mobile and fit this season.  Sullinger is the guy i'm worried about.  Nothing about his body looks like has changed from season 1.

KO still has moments where he doesn't know what to do defensively.   One play in particular against the Bulls, he had good position against Gasol and jumped out of the way opening up a pass to an easy dunk.

Getting better, but still a work in progress.

You are right about Sully.   He knows how to defend, but is handicapped by his enormous lower body.

Horford,  Milsap and the rest of the Hawks make good decisions on offense and defense almost every single time.  I don't know how they get their guys to that, but they are far more experienced than KO & Sully.

Hopefully they can improve.

[TheFlex]

Neither will be starters on a playoff team until they learn how to defend.

Sully is too slow.   Takes a couple of seconds to turn around.
KO is completely lost sometimes.

KO is not lost. He was lost last season. KO needs to stop fouling - playing too aggressively on the defensive end.   

Sullinger is a smart defender but needs to lose weight so he can "overhelp" at times.  You just can't let Chris Paul take a wide open three.  Even if you have no chance to block it, running to paul might disturb his focus

If Horford and Millsap can be effective starters (it's not like either have great length), Sully and KO could also(potentially).  Just need to iron things out and build better bodies. I have no doubt that KO will keep progressing with his body. He is more mobile and fit this season.  Sullinger is the guy i'm worried about.  Nothing about his body looks like has changed from season 1.

I agree with you re: Sully's weight.

Not sure KO's fouling problem is about aggression though. He has neither the length nor lateral quickness to stay with his assignment, so to prevent an easy bucket he fouls his man. At least Sully has a longer wingspan.

[Sixth Man]

No. Plus sully has played an extra year

Thank you for this...

[clover]

My bet is still on KO reaching his potential, which I think is higher than JS will get to.

You can see the many areas where KO is still learning and, given his reported work ethic, will likely continue to improve upon.

But that's certainly not to trash Sully as a player, as he's got some strengths too. Sully's been improving a bit too--e.g., in 3PT% and assist rate--but he's down on rebounds and more or less lateral overall for his 3 years in the league. (Efficiency is still down from his rookie year, when he had a significantly lower usage rate.)

In short, Sully hasn't been developing better or even as much as KO, but he came into the league as a more composed player, prepared for his initial role on the team. I don't see Sully changing significantly as a player unless he improves his body, so as to become less unathletic, if you will.

One big difference that is seldom noted on Sully's game is his lack of offensive efficiency. His TS% this year is .516 to KO's .583. From 0-3', KO's shooting .746 to JS's .662. And only KO is also a legit 3PT threat.

That said, I think this is a big summer for KO. Either he goes to a really tough big-man camp and becomes less of a finesse player, or he essentially tops out as another Bargnani.