Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jared Sullinger (0) reacts during the second half in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

There’s a reason Jared Sullinger was at one point projected to be a top 5 pick.  His talent is immense, and the question marks that caused him to fall were in no way related to his ability to play basketball.  He made it very apparent yesterday by scoring 20 in his debut in the Orlando Summer League, as the Celtics summer squad won by 8 over the Thunder.  In addition to Sullinger’s 20, they also received 16 points from E’Twan Moore, who I mentioned could be a fixture in the future of the Celtics.

For the Thunder, Perry Jones III, another one who fell badly in the draft, threw in 16 points in a solid debut.  Bill Simmons of Grantland.com expressed his disapproval of the C’s passing on Jones to select Fab Melo, and it looks like Jones could be one of the steals of the Draft, and perhaps the least surprising of all the steals.  For now, Celtics fans can rejoice that Sullinger looked good in his first game and showed no signs of the lingering injuries that were partly to blame for his descent into the late first round.

Mar 25, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Baylor Bears forward Perry Jones III (1) puts up a shot over Kentucky Wildcats guard Darius Miller (1) in the second half during the finals of the south region of the 2012 NCAA men

His stock has since fallen to the point that the Celtics may be able to draft the athletic youngster in the late first round at picks 21 or 22.

Jones has the length and speed to be a lot like former NBA forward Derrick McKey. He can be a premier defender if he sets his mind to it, and capable of scoring a lot like Shawn Marion. Or then, again, he could be the next Tyrus Thomas, which scares a lot of teams. He could be the next Anthony Randolph. Every year we see these types of long hybrid forwards who fail in the NBA. Ultimately, we have no idea. The lanky long small/power forward began with Scottie Pippen, and has continued, as often small forwards are counted on heavily defensively. There has to be someone to cover the LeBron James and Carmelo Anthonys of the NBA. Jones could be that type of player.

So will the Celtics grab him? NbaDraft.net predicts that they will. I don’t think Ainge could do any better, and if he snagged both Jones and maybe Fab Melo of Syracuse, he would be strengthening an already strong Celtics defense with more length and athleticism. That never hurts.

I don’t know if Jones will fall that far though. Maybe after some workouts, his draft stock will rise back to what it was. Then again, of course, it may not.

We’ll keep an eye on Jones’ stock in the upcoming weeks leading up to the Draft and see if Ainge might be able to pull a real heist. Of course, we won’t know that until years later, as Jones is still a bit of a project. Again, at pick 21/22, you could do a lot worse.