All Aboard the Jared Sullinger Bandwagon

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Boston Celtics heading into this fall. They’ve got a bright young coach in Brad Stevens and they played some of the best ball in the Eastern Conference last season post All-Star break. They have a roster full of improving players to feel good about moving forward, but if you’re looking for one more to spread your optimism to, the Jared Sullinger bandwagon definitely still has some spots open.

Depending on who you ask, Sully has either been a solid mid-first round pick or a slight disappointment in his first three years as a pro. He collected accolades during his time at Ohio State, including back-to-back First Team All-American selections, but speculations about back issues during the pre-draft process pushed him out of the lottery, allowing the Celtics to select him 21st in 2012.

Those concerns ended up being warranted, when Sullinger missed the final 36 games of his rookie year after undergoing lumbar disk surgery. Up to that point, he was having a decent campaign, averaging 6 points and 5.9 rebounds. He fared much better the following season, upping his participation from 45 games to 74, including 44 starts. His scoring and rebounding increased considerably as well, to 13.3 and 8.1 per game respectively.

These efforts set the stage for heightened expectations going into last season, but Sullinger struggled with injuries once again, this time being sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot. He was initially ruled out for the year. He managed to come back in early April, however, and finish the season. That resilience shouldn’t be discounted, but his numbers failed to increase and the initial expectations ended up resulting in disappointment.

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Apparently though, Sullinger has been working especially hard this offseason, under the watchful eye of former pro John Lucas. There have been tweets of grueling workouts and those promising big things in 2015-16. Sullinger has the added incentive of being in a contract year. A strong showing this season could entice teams to splurge with the anticipated salary cap spike next summer. The Celtics will have a chance to match any offer, due to Sully’s status as a restricted free agent. Just how generous those offers will be depends how things unfold this season.

Sullinger’s conditioning has been called into question in the past, and hopefully all Lucas’ enthusiasm about their sessions means a genuine long-term move in the right direction. Sully has always had a ton of talent and he’s overcome the injury struggles and a lot of doubt just to get to this point. He’s one of many Celtics looking to reach that next level this season. Competition for minutes will be stiffer with some new faces up front, but he should get his fair shot early on to legitimize the Lucas hype.

Next: Celtics Add Zoran Dragic, Up to 17 Players Under Contract

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