Celtics might actually have a chance at picking up the Crybaby. I wonder if his one condition is that KO needs to be traded. That won't end well
I rather give Sully and KO another shot. Just not a fan of Love the baby
Really? lol Even on similarly bad teams, neither of them have even come close to Love's effectiveness and statistical dominance.
give them a chance. It took love a while to get a pro body. Be a consistent threat from the 3 pt line.
It's do or die (to be better than just role players) for Sully and KO next season
Kevin Love is 26. His rookie year was 2008-2009, about 6 years ago. By his third year in the league, at age 22, Love was averaging just over 20 points and 15 rebounds per game.
Jared Sullinger is currently 23, entering his fourth year in the NBA. Kelly Olynyk is 24, entering his third year in the NBA. As much as I love our guys, neither of them will ever scratch Kevin Love levels.
Triboy, I know you love to prospect and look at potential (as evidenced by you amazingly detailed scouting reports and knowledge of the draft). However, at a certain point, a team needs proven commodities, and when an opportunity comes in which the proven commodity is not much older than your prospects, I think you have to jump.
What were Sully's averages last year in his 3rd yr compared to Love's 3rd year, how many minutes did each player get? Has Sully ever had the chance to be the man as Love had been? Sully in season 3 had just gotten about (MAYBE) half a season to be a top/go to player and he was starting to look nice before his injury. I'm not arguing whether Love's 3rd year was better but I am questioning how much better and I'm also asking that you look at situations and not just stats.
In 2010-2011, Kevin Love averaged 20.2 ppg and 15.2 rpg on a Minnesota Timberwolves team that averaged 101.1 points per contest. Love shot 47%/41.7%/85% on 11.2 two-pointers per game, 2.9 three-pointers per game, and 6.8 free throws per game. Love also averaged 2.5 assists per game. Love played 73 games at 35.8 minutes per game, with per-36 minute numbers of 20.4/15.3/2.5
In 2014-2015, Jared Sullinger averaged 13.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg on a Boston Celtics team that averaged 101.4 points per contest. Sullinger shot 43.9%/28.3%/74.4% on 9.0 two-pointers per game, 3.2 three-pointers per game, and 2.2 free throws per game. Sullinger also averaged 2.3 assists per game. Sullinger played 58 games at 27.0 minutes per game, with per-36 minute numbers of 17.7/10.1/3.1
From this, I see that Sullinger, compared to Love, contributed less to the offense point-wise with similar field goal attempts in fewer minutes. What is most concerning, though, is the percentages. Sullinger has always been a below-average everything (free throw rate, 2p%, and 3p%), showing no signs of being elite. His field goal percentages his first three years were: 49.3% (as a bench player), 42.7% (in his only year playing more than 2/3 of games), and 43.9%. Love, on the other hand, was always at least average (45.9%, 45%, and 47%), scraping elite as the first option on offense. Sullinger also played less games and minutes due to being out of shape and having a bad back, which is not a good sign (although Love's recent injuries make this a wash, in my opinion). But Sullinger seems to have no sizable advantage on offense (neither crafty moves to get to the line nor shooting range or considerable size for his position), which seems to cap his possible production. I have no doubt he'd be better if he gets into shape, and he's showing positive signs, but I still don't think he'd be Love-like. Then, the argument becomes, "Is $10 million a year for 17/10 Sullinger better than >$20 million for 24/13 Love?"
Love is a guy whose efficiency is maintained as his usage rate gets higher, thus translating to great stats when on a bad team and above-average stats on a very good team. I don't think Sullinger has the physical tools or skills to have a big increase in production as his usage rate goes up.