Boston Celtics: Can Jared Sullinger’s NBA return be with the C’s?

A former member of the Boston Celtics–Jared Sullinger–has been in the news recently as he mulls an NBA comeback. Could he once again find himself wearing green and white?

An interesting name popped up on the NBA rumor mill recently when reports surfaced of former Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger wanting to complete a comeback after three seasons away from the league. 

Since he last played for the Toronto Raptors in his worst professional season (and his only not spent in Beantown), Sullinger has been a fixture on ESPN’s “The Basketball Tournament”. His name popped up briefly in 2017 as a possible Brooklyn Nets signing but talks never materialized into an agreement.

Now, it appears the Ohio State product wants to reenter the league during what will be an interesting time for lower-end free agents on the market. Sullinger will not be eligible for the current season restart set for later this month due to not being on an active roster in the last two years, meaning any comeback would take place this offseason.

Could the Boston Celtics look to bring back a player who has experience playing for Brad Stevens after initially being drafted to immediately contribute on the 2012-13 C’s? After seeing that team fall due to injuries, Sullinger was a part of the C’s expedited rebuild and started on the 2015 and 16 playoff teams.

What can he add to the current dynamic though? He could provide a veteran presence in the frontcourt, but Enes Kanter serves that role currently and free agency could see a veteran big settle for below market value to join a contender in Boston.

While he played five seasons in the league and 11 points, 7.5 rebounds and two assists per game, he was never a standout finisher at the rim and shot just 27 percent from the 3-point line. He will be coming off of three consecutive seasons out of the league. What sort of readjustment could that require from Sullinger?

The Celtics don’t have time to wait. With the accelerated development of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and the presence of guys like Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward, the team needs players that can immediately step in and play their best ball.

It may take time for Sullinger to ramp up to playing that way. In the meantime, Boston already has bigs like Robert Williams, Grant Williams, Vincent Poirier, and Tacko Fall to get up to speed. Adding Sullinger doesn’t move the needle enough to justify cutting minutes from any of them…or even cutting any of them to make room him.

Final verdict: The fit is not there in 2020