I like a lot of things about Sullinger and think he might be a good fit, but I think people are seeing him compared with Monroe through rose-colored lenses.
Q00 wrote:I'd trade Monroe for Sullinger. Why not? He's basically the same player and will be on a rookie contract for 2 more years. I'd rather have Sullinger at 1-2 mil/yr over Monroe at 13-14 mil/yr.
Their raw stats aren't that far off, but Monroe's advanced stats are on a different tier from Sullinger's. Sullinger's career PER is 15.5--just about league average--while Monroe's is 19.3. (Monroe's numbers have been going down the last few years, though). That would mean that Sullinger is roughly in the 60th percentile of NBA players while Monroe is in the 90th. Monroe's also averaged about twice the win shares, though those too have been going down.
Kstegall21 wrote: They had questions about his back when he was drafted but he hasn't had an injury to his back yet since he has been in the league.
The back concerns were long term--I remember the draft clearly and the worry wasn't that he'd never play again, just that the back was likely to cause big trouble down the line. Many people figured he'd come in and be a solid player and even a fringe ROY candidate but still expressed concerns about his back. I don't know enough about his medical condition to say whether there's any risk still, but the back was definitely a long term concern and not just a ACL injury or a broken ankle or something.
Kstegall21 wrote: Everybody has been doubting him since he has been in the league and all he does is continue to produce. Watch the game where he went for 31 points and 16 rebounds against Demarcus Cousins (one of the best young C's in the league).
No one thinks Sullinger's a scrub and no one ever thought that he couldn't play. There were always questions about whether he had enough size to be a starting caliber guy, and I think those questions are still legit. He's a great worker and put up solid rebounding numbers (though on a team with garbage rebounders), but he fouls a ton, his true shooting percentage is abysmal, and he's never going to be a good defender.
Also watch any of Monroe's games where he went for 27/13 or 35/10--he's got a ton of them. I believe that Sullinger is a nice player but trading Monroe for him is not going to make the team demonstrably better. He may be a slightly better fit, but best case scenario he gives us about what Monroe did while stretching the floor more--and worse case he remains a below average defender who shoots a low percentage and doesn't deserve 30 minutes per night.
). He isn't that defensive and he'll be a terrible fit when Monroe shifts to the 5. That's the main reason I want to keep Smith, he's a perfect fit next to Monroe or Drummond.
