Jared Sullinger Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Love, Sullinger, Tax, Jackson

May 6th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Love would be much more likely to sign with the Lakers this summer if he were to leave the Cavs than to sign with the Celtics, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. It’s unclear if hard feelings over Kelly Olynyk‘s role in Love’s injury are at the root of a change or if Deveney is simply hearing different chatter than what Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports heard when he wrote last month that the C’s had closed the gap on the Lakers for Love. In any case, the C’s pursuit of Love last summer made it clear to Boston that a trade package centered around Jared Sullinger won’t be enough to land a star, as Deveney also writes in his look at the Celtics offseason. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Nets have no interest in paying the luxury tax next season, when they would be in line for harsh repeat offender penalties if they did, league sources have long insisted to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. That’s in contrast to owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s insistence a month ago that the team would pay the tax. In any case, avoiding the tax would almost certainly entail a trade of Deron Williams or, more likely, Joe Johnson, if Brook Lopez re-signs as expected, Bontemps writes.
In the same piece, Bontemps looks at ways for the Nets to add quickness at the point and more shooting, two areas Lionel Hollins singled out for improvement in his season-ending press conference this past weekend.
The decision Knicks owner James Dolan made to hire Isiah Thomas as president of the New York Liberty, Dolan’s WNBA team, raises questions about how the dynamic will affect Knicks president Phil Jackson, asserts Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. That’s in spite of the insistence of Thomas that he’ll have no role with the Knicks, whom he used to serve as coach and executive. Harvey Araton of The New York Times thinks it could only be a positive for Jackson, given Dolan’s strong financial commitment to the Zen Master and the notion that Dolan’s insertion of Thomas into the dynamic would absolve Jackson of some of the blame if the Knicks fail to pull out of their tailspin (Twitter links).

Eastern Notes: Hennigan, Celtics, Magic

April 30th, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With a large stockpile of draft picks, ample cap space, and the popularity of coach Brad Stevens around the league, the Celtics appear to be in a position to have a strong offseason, as well as possess a legitimate shot to lure a big name free agent to Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “We have to be a place where guys around the league will look at and say, ‘hey it can work to play in Boston, to play for Brad Stevens, play with those guys and play in front of those fans,’” co-owner Wyc Grousbeck told Blakely. “I think people are starting to take notice.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Multiple sources around the NBA told Blakely that the Celtics players who are most likely to garner trade interest this offseason are big men Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger. The players who the team are least likely to deal are guard Marcus Smart and center Tyler Zeller, Blakely adds.
Magic GM Rob Hennigan‘s contract extension also includes a team option for the 2018/19 season, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel tweets.
The Thunder’s hiring of Billy Donovan helps the Magic in their own quest for a new head coach, Robbins writes in a separate article. With OKC now out of the coaching hunt, Orlando will now only have the Nuggets to compete with for available candidates, the Sentinel scribe notes.

Celtics Rumors: Free Agency, Jerebko, Crowder

April 30th, 2015 at 10:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge seeks a talent upgrade this summer and, to no one’s surprise, pledged today to try for a marquee acquisition, MassLive’s Jay King notes (on Twitter). Still, King hears that that the C’s are prepared to chase second-tier free agents if they miss out on stars, and league sources told King that the Celtics are ready to offer a contract that would make it seem like they were overpaying one of those Plan B free agents. The idea is that Boston would do so with someone who it felt would improve enough to justify the hefty salaries and that those paydays wouldn’t seem as large in the context of the surging cap in the next few years, as King explains. There’s more from King amid the latest from Boston:

Reggie Jackson and Enes Kanter are second-tier free agents the Celtics are unlikely to pursue, King writes in the same piece. They fear that Kanter believes he’s more valuable than he is and that such thinking would disrupt the team concept, according to King.
Soon-to-be free agent Jonas Jerebko drew raves today from Ainge, who jokingly called him “the Swedish Larry Bird,” and Ainge dropped hints that he’d like to re-sign the forward, as King observes (Twitter links). “I think I would sign off on the ‘sign the Swede’ hashtag. … But it all depends,” Ainge said.
Ainge confirmed the team will indeed extend the qualifying offer of little more than $1.181MM necessary to match competing offers for Jae Crowder in free agency this summer, notes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Ainge strongly signaled last week that he’d like to re-sign the swingman acquired in the Rajon Rondo trade.
Ainge again challenged Jared Sullinger to improve his conditioning, as Globe scribe Adam Himmelsbach relays. Sullinger is up for a rookie scale extension this year. “I think he’s hurting the longevity of his career and his play now by not being in as good shape as he can be in,” Ainge said.

Atlantic Notes: Sullinger, Crowder, Amundson

April 3rd, 2015 at 2:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics received an unexpected boost to their playoff hopes today, as the stress fracture in Jared Sullinger‘s left foot that was to have kept him out for the rest of the season has healed so that he can return to game action, at least on a limited basis, beginning tonight, the team announced. The surprising news helps Sullinger, who’s up for a rookie scale extension this coming offseason, as well as his team, which is tied with the Heat for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

Jae Crowder is grateful to the Celtics for giving him a more prominent role than he had in Dallas before the Mavs sent him out in the Rajon Rondo trade, as he tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The swingman is content in Boston as restricted free agency looms this summer, Bulpett details, arguing that the swingman has done enough to warrant as long of a commitment as possible from the Celtics.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson praised Lou Amundson and Lance Thomas on Thursday amid his comments about the future to season ticket holders, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com points out (Twitter link). The pair will be free agents this summer, and Amundson has said he’d like to re-sign.
Trading for Thaddeus Young and putting rookie Markel Brown in the starting lineup have combined to help Deron Williams play better since the All-Star break, Nets coach Lionel Hollins asserted in an appearance with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on WFAN-AM (transcription via NetsDaily).

Atlantic Notes: Calipari, Sullinger, Sims

March 25th, 2015 at 10:09am CST by Chuck Myron

John Calipari “desperately” wants back into the NBA, an NBA front-office executive tells Steve Popper of The Record, and that executive sees a way for that to happen with the Nets, the team Calipari ran in a coach/executive role from 1996 to 1999. Popper hears from sources who cite Calipari’s ties to Nets CEO Brett Yormark, though sources close to Calipari tell Popper that it would take a dual coach/executive role for the Kentucky coach to return to the pro game. Calipari and the Cavs reportedly had discussions about such a role and a would-be lucrative contract last offseason, but Calipari instead signed a new deal with Kentucky. Here’s more on the Nets and the rest of the Atlantic Division:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has “great interest” in a new deal with Jared Sullinger, but it would likely come with a weight clause, writes Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com. Sullinger, who’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, would be on board with a weight-based stipulation, as he tells MacMullan, though he’s reluctant to admit that he ballooned to 300 pounds at one point this season, as the Celts believe he did.
Sixers coach Brett Brown hates having to cut the minutes of Henry Sims to find time to evaluate Thomas Robinson and Furkan Aldemir, but that’s what’s happened as the end of the final season on Sims’ contract approaches, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News examines. Perhaps not coincidentally, the downturn in playing time comes with Sims needing 10 more starts to trigger a higher qualifying offer this summer, as I noted. He hasn’t started since March 2nd. “I try not to think for them,” Sims said of the Sixers. “For me, I feel that I’ve done enough out here to let them know what I can do. I feel like I’ve done my job and that’s all I can do.”
The Knicks have been so impressed with midseason signee Langston Galloway‘s video preparation that they’ve told him to watch less, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes as he looks at the rookie’s heavy workload. Galloway, who’s averaged 31.6 minutes in 34 games this season, has non-guaranteed salary with partial guarantee dates for next season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported.

Atlantic Notes: Sullinger, Early, Sixers

February 26th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Jared Sullinger has not met conditioning goals in an interview today on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston, as Brian Robb of Boston.com transcribes (Twitter link). Sullinger suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his left foot on Sunday. Ainge said that he has addressed Sullinger’s conditioning issues “many, many times,” and was not impressed by the results this season. “All of our players have met conditioning, body fat, goals set by trainers, and Jared has not met them,” Ainge said. Sullinger told reporters Wednesday that he plans to use his rehab from a left foot fracture and the offseason to transform his body.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

With only 26 games left, it’s getting late for Knicks rookie forward Cleanthony Early to prove his worth, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Early is one of four Knicks with a guaranteed deal for next season, but it doesn’t mean he definitely will return, especially if his salary helps facilitate a trade, Iannazzone noted. Early, the No. 34 pick, has struggled, and he missed six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery in November.
The Sixers saved a little less than $2MM when they claimed Thomas Robinson off waivers, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only story. Robinson’s contract takes them over the NBA’s minimum team salary. Prior to the claim, they had been set to have to distribute any shortfall from that amount among their players, but the 76ers now pay only the balance of Robinson’s salary, Pelton notes.
Dumping productive players prior to the NBA trade deadline has become an increasingly popular tanking strategy, and is a problem that the league needs to address, Filip Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. Bondy notes that the deals the Knicks have made this season are a good example of the practice. “It’s been going on for a while, that particular instrument,” said Rod Thorn, NBA president of basketball operations. “More now, because we have so many teams under the cap. Five, six years ago, there were only a handful under the cap. Now half the teams or more are under the cap, and it puts them in position to gain an asset by taking a player that a team is trying to get rid of. There are more trading partners.”

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Jared Sullinger To Miss Rest Of Season

February 22nd, 2015 at 10:20am CST by ChrisCrouse

Jared Sullinger will miss the remainder of the season because of a metatarsal stress fracture in his left foot, according to the Celtics’ Twitter feed. The power forward injured his foot against the Hawks on February 11th.

During his time in the NBA, Sullinger has missed time due to a sore knee in 2013, as well as a sore ankle and a concussion in 2014. The Ohio State product also missed games in college because of a back injury and it caused scouts to believe that Sullinger’s career could be shortened because of the ailment. The forward is making slightly more than $1.42MM this season and will earn slightly under $2.27MM next season. The latest injury does not help his cause to see a hefty raise on those figures when he becomes a restricted free agent after the 2015/16 season, although that is just my speculation.

Sullinger was averaging 14.4 points and 28.7 minutes per game this season, both career highs. The Celtics are 20-32 on the season but sit only one and a half games behind the Nets for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The injury leaves the Celtics with a void in their frontcourt but I would speculate that the team will increase Tyler Zeller‘s role and new addition Jonas Jerebko‘s minutes rather than sign a free agent to fill the void. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception passed last month, but the timing is even worse for Sullinger, who’s up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason.

Atlantic Notes: Sullinger, Celtics, Knicks

February 19th, 2015 at 8:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics big man Jared Sullinger will be out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his left foot, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reports. “Jared is going to be out a while,” said coach Brad Stevens. “Supposedly it happened in the Atlanta game and he was talking a little bit about it [Wednesday], with regard to feeling some discomfort and so he went through a little bit of practice, then pulled himself out. [Team trainer] Ed [Lacerte] took him to get the X-ray [Thursday], so that’s not good news on the Jared front, that’s for sure. He’s not going to play on this trip, and I don’t anticipate him playing any time soon.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

In an interview with Andy Gresh and John Wallach on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Celtics GM Danny Ainge inadvertently shot down rumors linking his team to Suns guard Goran Dragic, as Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com writes. “We are also looking to acquire players that are already under contract,” Ainge said. “We really don’t want to get rid of multiple draft picks for players with uncertainty in the free agent market, a situation like we were in with Rondo as an example. We’re not looking to do those kind of games, but we’re looking for more certainty. It’s more likely that we will be busier in the summer time and actually get more accomplished than here at the trade deadline.”
The Knicks’ hopes to sign an impact free agent this summer took a big hit with Reggie Jackson headed to Detroit and Goran Dragic joining the Heat, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. With both players expected to re-sign with their new teams, the Knicks will now have to scramble to attract some of the second-tier free agents, Begley adds.
Carmelo Anthony underwent successful surgery today to repair damage to his left knee, and the Knicks‘ star is expected to be out of action for four to six months, Andrew Keh of The New York Times reports.
The Celtics‘ acquisition of Isaiah Thomas is one that will help the team now and in the future, Jimmy Toscano of CSNNE.com opines.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Turner, Sullinger, Bucks

September 6th, 2014 at 4:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Derrick Rose was held scoreless in Team USA’s 86-63 victory over Mexico, but Bulls head coach and Team USA assistant Tom Thibodeau wasn’t the least bit concerned, Sam Amick of USA Today reports. Of Rose’s progress, Thibodeau said, “There’s nothing negative about this. This is all positive. As I said, the more he practices, the more he plays, the better he’ll get. He’ll be fine. Just take it day by day, keep doing the things that he’s doing and get ready for training camp when we get there. The important thing is to concentrate on what he’s doing right now, which is here, and do the things that we’re asking him to do here.”

Here’s more from around the east:

The Celtics‘ signing of Evan Turner hasn’t been made official yet, but Jared Sullinger is excited that Turner will be playing for Boston next season, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “Everybody is down on (Turner) because of how the ‘trade’ happened and what happened in the trade and how Indiana played,” Sullinger said. “People misunderstand Evan. He’s a great basketball player, a great teammate. I’ve known him for years. He’s all about winning. That’s his main goal.”
Sullinger has lost weight and is primed for a big season, writes Blakely in a separate article. Sullinger is free of the post-surgical limitations he faced heading into last season, and he said, “I couldn’t play until September, full-go with contact playing one-on-one, things like that. I was kind of behind the eight-ball and stayed behind the eight-ball. My biggest thing was health last year. I think I was a little afraid at the beginning of training camp due to my back, contact and all that good stuff. I was afraid of what was going to happen…but now I know what I can do. I know how my back is going to hold up. The beautiful thing about it is I have another year to show who Jared Sullinger can be.”
The crew over at Basketball Insiders preview the upcoming season for the Bucks, and the consensus is that Milwaukee will finish fifth in the Central Division, and miss the playoffs yet again.

Latest On Joel Embiid

June 21st, 2014 at 6:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Joel Embiid had been the prohibitive favorite to be the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, but his foot injury and subsequent need for surgery has placed his likelihood of being a top-3 pick in serious doubt, as executives worry that he could be the next in a long line of talented big men to have their careers cut short by injury, Here’s the latest on Embiid…

Initial concerns about Embiid centered on a stress fracture in his back — an injury that caused him to miss the final several weeks of the college season, including the NCAA tournament, but the foot injury is an even worse concern now, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. A Western Conference executive said, “The back thing wouldn’t have bothered me as much, to be quite honest. But big men and bad feet are a bad combination. And big men with two injury concerns (back and foot) are a worse combination. No way (the Cavs) take him. It costs people money and jobs.“
In the same article, a Western Conference coach had a different opinion, telling Amico, “Embiid is a top-three overall talent. He’s the best big in the draft. I wouldn’t rule him out.”
Another executive weighed in on the talents of Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, telling Amico, “How do you draft Embiid and his bad foot when you have two guys like (Parker and Wiggins) sitting there? If you take an injury-prone big man to pass on a healthy and talented wing … you could really set the franchise back. The Cavs want to start winning. Draft the healthy guy.” That same executive then said he wouldn’t risk taking Embiid prior to the sixth pick.
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com thinks that Embiid fits what the Lakers need. Adande opines that with Kobe Bryant under contract for two more seasons, the team doesn’t need to think long-term right now. Rather, they need to maximize what’s left of Kobe’s career, which makes the possibility of Embiid having his career cut short by injury not as big a risk as it would be for many of the other teams drafting in the top-10.
Embiid might fall to the Celtics who own the sixth pick, and GM Danny Ainge has a history of taking players with injuries in their backgrounds, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM. The article cites Ainge’s selections of Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley as examples.