Jared Sullinger’s free-agency logic is irrefutable.
Complex’s Ryan Morik caught up with the new member of Toronto Raptors and asked him about his decision to sign with Canada’s finest. He answered the question with another question:
Why the Raptors? Why not. It was almost like a no brainer. It was a situation where not only money was great, but the situation of us winning—they lost Bismack Biyombo, they lost Luis Scola, they needed a other big, and I just said “Why not?” This is a team with hard workers, and you look at the team, and there’s a lot of guys that were journeymen before they went to the Toronto Raptors. It’s just been the place to be, you got the whole country behind you, and they want to win. That’s the mindset out here.
Solid reasoning overall. And the Raptors are, indeed, a promising landing spot for Sullinger.
Both Bismack Biyombo and Luis Scola are gone, so Sully is guaranteed minutes. And he needs minutes. He signed a one-year, $5.6 million deal, with the hope of driving up his stock ahead of 2017 free agency, and the second salary-cap boom it promises.
The Raptors also have extensive experience incorporating bigs with offensive limitations into their system. Biyombo cannot really score outside the restricted area, and Valanciuas is neither a shooter nor above the rim sage. He is similar to Sullinger in that way, albeit a few inches taller.
Toronto should be expected to use Sullinger in similar fashion. Though he will play many of his minutes at the 4, the Raptors don’t really have a seasoned backup center. Their options are rookie Jakob Poeltl and the sushi raw Lucas Nogueira. Sullinger has never been the ideal pick-and-roll rim runner, but he’s also never played with the drive-heavy combination of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Plus, the Boston Celtics mostly used him as an undersized 5 last season, according to Basketball-Reference
As for when he’s at power forward, Sullinger isn’t afraid to try spacing the floor. He is shooting under 28 percent from three over the last three years, but he’s also fired up 495 triples during that time. He is shooting a respectable 43 percent between 16 feet and the three-point line since 2013-14 as well, suggesting he’ll be able hone his three-point touch in the right situation.
So, like Sullinger posed, why wouldn’t he sign with the Raptors?
To be honest, I’m not really sure.
