Jared Sullinger is Fading Away

This was supposed to be Jared Sullinger‘s year. He has long been in consideration for the Boston Celtics‘ best player but supposed conditioning issues has prevented him from taking the leap to becoming a franchise player.

After a reality check and even an intervention, Sullinger put in the work to fix his conditioning issues and with the Celtics finally having playoff expectations, this would have been an ideal year for Sullinger to separate himself from the rest of the now crowded front court.

Unfortunately, the work Sullinger put into his conditioning is not translating onto the court and as each day passes it appears as though Sullinger is further and further away from the starting lineup.

Dec 19, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward Gerald Wallace (45) and forward Jared Sullinger (7) on the bench during the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Sullinger’s experience with Brad Stevens gave him a distinct advantage at the starting lineup to begin the season but that will only take him so far. David Lee has arguably been the Celtics’ best player this offseason. He has embraced a leadership role and he has been contributing in many different ways on the court.

Lee can be the scorer that the Celtics want and he can be the passer they need. He can’t extend beyond the three point line but he does everything else Brad Stevens could need and he does it as well as anyone else on the team.

The biggest edge Sullinger had over the other power forwards was his three point shooting ability. He will maintain that advantage over Lee but he will need to do a lot more in order to surpass the experienced big man.

Lee is not the only player that has done a lot more than Sullinger to get a starting position. Amir Johnson has finally been giving the Celtics formidable post play and his three point shooting surprised a lot of people against the Brooklyn Nets.

Johnson’s success did not spill over into the Knicks game. However, he only attempted one three pointer and ended with the same three point shooting line as Sullinger. Sullinger has done nothing to suggest he will improve his abysmal three point shooting from last season and that means Johnson will not have that much of a challenge to be better than him.

Defenses have to respect Sullinger beyond the three point line but shooting under 30% is doing more harm than good. Johnson may never reach the volume of Sullinger’s three point shooting but he should have no problem being more efficient.

Johnson blew Sullinger away against the Nets with 7 more made shots and 16 more points. Sullinger was an abysmal 1-8 and he showed absolutely no improvement against the Knicks as he also finished that game a concerning 1-8.

Too much stock should not be put into preseason games but 1-16 over a two game stretch when his competition has been stellar will make it difficult to secure a starting position.

Even Jordan Mickey and Jonas Jerebko, who were never serious contenders for the starting position, have been far superior to Sullinger this preseason. In fact, theres a case to be made that the entire Celtics roster has been better than Sullinger, especially over the past two games.

This is going to be a make or break season for Sullinger and he could not have had a worse start. Sullinger has done nothing to prove that he deserves playing time and with such a crowded front court there will be no sense in wasting minutes on Sullinger when he is playing this poorly.

Sullinger will certainly have more opportunities to get back on track but he needs to make drastic improvements and he needs to do it quickly. Sullinger is moving in the opposite direction of the other power forwards and even if he breaks out of this slump he may remain too far behind Lee and Johnson.

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