Raptors NBA Draft Thread: Jared Sullinger

[McFurious1]

Would love Sullinger with our pick. He's a big we've been waiting for.

[wazabifuzz]

Could he be better than Davis ? If the raps like Sullinger, we could package Davis or Derozen and a 2nd for another first rounder, this could be the year to do it. Derozen is probably worth at least a first rounder, but I don't think he's going anywhere this year.

[Double Helix]

Wrote this in another thread so I'll change it a bit here and add to it a little.

Sullinger does have some health issues that fans need to be aware of that I keep forgetting about. He's had back spasms and plantar fasciitis. I feel like this is also part of the reason he's sliding a bit.

BC in particular takes injury concerns seriously. He passed on Granger, Roy and specifically mentioned some of Aldridge's potential injury concerns during his draft. He looks into these things a lot. Some GMs don't (Pritchard). So, Sullinger fans need to consider these issues as something that some of the GMs may not want to deal with when looking at other players that they also like with less health concerns.

[Next Coming]

I'm friends with some of his brothers and he's a great kid. He'll be a very good starter for the next decade. I could definitely see him making 3 All Star teams over his career with 16-18/9-11/2 type seasons.

Don't see Ed Davis on this team at the start of the year. If I was Colangelo I'd try to trade him for a late lottery pick or mid teens and try to get one of Harkless/Miller/Teague. Or as an add in in an eventual Bargnani or Calderon trade.

Valanciunas, Sullinger, Johnson, Gray is a pretty good big man rotation.

[Big Shot]

BC in particular takes injury concerns seriously. He passed on Granger, Roy and specifically mentioned some of Aldridge's potential injury concerns during his draft.

Babcock passed on Granger.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I don't know that the skepticism on medical issues has as much to do with BC as it does with the Raptors' scouting, training and medical staff. Certain teams just seem to draft certain ways regardless of who's the GM. Jim Kelly looked positively exuberant when he got to point out how they found out an issue with Batum's heart causing his stock to fall and Portland took him and never looked back.

[Landomar]

We'd be lucky to get someone with Sullinger's talent at 8. If he's there you take him and run.
Then worry about trades later.

yea, it sure has worked well with ed davis. ppl on this board think of him as a throwin to trades nowadays.

I agree that we'd be lucky to get a guy like Sullinger in the draft this year. He's really good. I think that he's very likely to be at least a borderline allstar type in the NBA.

It's true that Ed Davis hasn't been very impressive so far, but expectations for Davis have always been fairly low, or at least they should have been. Davis was a good rebounder in college, and he could finish open looks near the rim, but that was about it. In the NBA, he can still do those two things, and the rest of his game is still just "potential." Sullinger is a legit scoring big man, and is generally more polished overall. Sullinger, if he does as hoped in the NBA, would be a much more exciting "BPA" than Ed Davis ever was.

[drew_8730]

so looks like everyone wants another power forward...............

WITH THE 8TH PICK THE TORONTO RAPTORS SELECT...............ANOTHER POWER FORWARD

[Duke3D]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

[McFurious1]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

They said the same thing about Kevin Love.

[Duke3D]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

They said the same thing about Kevin Love.

For that type of a size/athleticism combo, there are a lot more Marcus Morris types than Kevin Loves. The odds are not in your favor that this will work out, but that doesn't mean its a guarantee they won't.

Better to go for higher upside at such high a slot.

[hankscorpioLA]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

They said the same thing about Kevin Love.

They did.

But they also said that Kevin Love was one of the smartest players to come along in a long time, that he had excellent post moves, was extremely mature for his age, was an exceptional passer and shooter.


Look...nobody is saying that Sullinger can't make it in the NBA - but that does not mean that teams thinking of drafting him should not be concerned about his lack of athleticism.

[Dr Positivity]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

They said the same thing about Kevin Love.

For that type of a size/athleticism combo, there are a lot more Marcus Morris types than Kevin Loves. The odds are not in your favor that this will work out, but that doesn't mean its a guarantee they won't.

Better to go for higher upside at such high a slot.

One of the problem with Marcus Morris is a very short wingspan and reach. Comparing his reach directly to Sullinger's is an issue because we've been finding out in a thread in the NBA Draft forum that they must've changed the way they measured reach this year due to some really off measurements, but his 6'10 wingspan is 4 inches shorter than Sullinger. Sullinger obviously carries a lot more weight than him as well.

[Saciid11]

Sadly with him he won't be anything more than an important role player on a good team. Missing the athleticism and size needed to get to that level.

Great mid-first round pick - wouldn't draft him in the top 10.

They said the same thing about Kevin Love.

They did.

But they also said that Kevin Love was one of the smartest players to come along in a long time, that he had excellent post moves, was extremely mature for his age, was an exceptional passer and shooter.


Look...nobody is saying that Sullinger can't make it in the NBA - but that does not mean that teams thinking of drafting him should not be concerned about his lack of athleticism.

Kevin Love is great outside shooter, but he is nowhere near the low post scorer Sullinger is in College or is projected to be in NBA. Sullinger is great low post scorer, with good mid range shot, he can't shoot the three like Love... allot like how Brand, ZBO score and play ..

[HolyMage110]

don't mind getting sully, but if we do get him he needs to play big mintuesssss

[Landomar]

so looks like everyone wants another power forward...............

WITH THE 8TH PICK THE TORONTO RAPTORS SELECT...............ANOTHER POWER FORWARD

Drafting a very good power forward is always better than drafting a mediocre wing player. This year the draft is full of bigs, and is weak on perimeter players. There's no sense drafting a guy that projects to be as good as Marvin Williams or Rudy Fernandez if we have a chance to take a guy that projects to be a version of Zach Randolph or Carlos Boozer.

[Marvin!]

Look...nobody is saying that Sullinger can't make it in the NBA - but that does not mean that teams thinking of drafting him should not be concerned about his lack of athleticism.

there are concerns with every player aside from A.Davis...

[ballocks]

Say what you will about Sully's 'value' at #8, it would still shock me senseless if the Raptors took him. I see him being discussed more to scare teams behind us (POR, DET, MIL?) than a sincere mark of our interest. I think Sullinger's one of the few (along with Perry Jones iii, Terrence Jones i, Lillard and even Marshall) who still has a realistic % to change the complexion of the lottery to our advantage. I'm not saying that's what's going on, I'm just trying to make sense of the rumours. I don't think Sully's in play for the Raptors and I think they know that- but it doesn't mean they won't use him over the next two weeks. \speculation

peace

[hankscorpioLA]

So...it looks like Sullinger was the big loser in terms of the measurements.

Since someone mentioned Kevin Love, lets do a side-by-side comparison

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/kevin-love-1062/

Sullinger vs. Love

No Step Vert. 29.5 vs 29.5
Max Vert 31 vs 35
Bench 9 vs 18
Agility 12.77 vs 11.17
Sprint 3.81 vs 3.22

So not only was Love significantly stronger and a much better leaper....he was also more agile and faster on the sprint.

[TheDoctor]

So...it looks like Sullinger was the big loser in terms of the measurements.

Since someone mentioned Kevin Love, lets do a side-by-side comparison

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/kevin-love-1062/

Sullinger vs. Love

No Step Vert. 29.5 vs 29.5
Max Vert 31 vs 35
Bench 9 vs 18
Agility 12.77 vs 11.17
Sprint 3.81 vs 3.22

So not only was Love significantly stronger and a much better leaper....he was also more agile and faster on the sprint.

THAT, is a relevant comparison, and useful. I still think Sullinger is going to have a good NBA career, but that's considerably behind Love.