Now former-Celtic forward Jared Sullinger has signed a 1-year, roughly $6 million deal with the Toronto Raptors
Jared Sullinger was made available over the last few days because the Boston Celtics rescinded their qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. This means he could sign wherever he chooses and the Celtics couldn’t match the deal.
The Raptors didn’t waste much time reaching out and signing Sullinger – he has already agreed to a deal with one of the best teams in the East. The Raptors lost Bismack Biyombo, which was a very popular player from this last season, as he inked a multi-year deal with the Orlando Magic.
This will open up a spot right away for Sullinger to be their best and first big off the bench. He brings a lot of toughness of the defensive end, great rebounding ability, and a good but still improving offensive game. His great size along with his 6’9″ frame combine to be the perfect body for a rebounding force down-low.
His outside shot is improving but it’s not quite where he would like it to be in terms of results just yet. When he was drafted, most didn’t even consider his ability to shoot from the outside because of his ability to be a dominant low-post scorer at Ohio State. He has expanded his range due to his lack of elite height and athleticism compared to the average NBA power forward. His injuries have also slowed his development exponentially.
Compared to Biyombo, Sullinger is miles ahead in terms of his offensive development. They are the same height, but Biyombo is much more athletic and was an elite NBA rebounder for the Raptors. Offensively, put backs and dunks seemed to be where all of his points came from, which is ultimately why the Raptors let him go and brought in Sullinger, in my opinion.
Sullinger would have drawn much more money because of this huge cap spike that has kicked in this summer, but he has been unable to remain on the court long enough for teams to be confident that he can do it regularly. In Boston, he hasn’t played a complete season in his first four years in the league. Last year he did play in 81 games, but still not a complete season.
This unfortunately gives him the “injury prone” tag that most teams want to stay away from. The positive about this deal for Sullinger is that it is only for one season and if he can stay healthy for the majority of it, he could see a lot of cash coming his way in the summer of 2017.
The Celtics made the decision to let Sullinger walk because of the signing of one of 2016’s top free agents in Al Horford. They signed him to a 4-year, $113 million deal earlier this free agency period. Including Horford and Sullinger, they had an extremely packed front court with too many guys that will likely need significant minutes. Sullinger was the one who was let go in the end.
Next: Jared Sullinger Signs With Raptors
Boston fans will miss how hard Jared Sullinger played when he was healthy and his contribution on offense will be replaced with that of Horford, who will hopefully be a solid upgrade.