I'm not trading Sullinger straight up for Danilo, let alone in a package that includes picks and youth to go along with him.
We have very different opinions on Sully and Gallo then. Sully rebounds better than Gallo. That's about it.
If it were Olynyk instead of Sully, do you change your tune? Those two are interchangeable for me, although obviously some here are very solidly in one camp or the other.
Definitely. Not saying I would do this trade, but yes I would include Olynyk if needed instead of Sullinger.
I'll just say this, I need to be wowed by our return for me to consider moving Sullinger. I think he's very good right now, and I think he'll be even better going forward. More importantly, when it counts, when you need players in the playoffs, he's someone you can count on. Olynyk, not so much even when his shot is falling.
The ship hasn't sailed on Sully, but he's three years into his career still trying to figure out what shape he needs to be in as a professional. He's in the last year of his rookie deal, and the C's really can't talk extension with him. He's quite talented, I agree. But he's really a player who isn't guaranteed to be around next season even if not traded. If you can't reliably stay on the court, especially by the end of the season, can you really be a key component of a team?
Three years into his career, yet a year younger than Olynyk... one rookie season that was cut short due to the back surgery, which is why he dropped to us in the first place.
As for final year of his contract, I'm willing to risk it to see how it turns out. If he's not worth keeping after that, I have no problem moving on. But difference with Olynyk is that I just don't see Olynyk being more than what he currently is, and that's not enough for me.
I mean, you recall the 1st game of the playoffs in which Olynyk was dominating offensively right? What did we do? We moved him to our starting unit in the 2nd half and we got destroyed because of it to the point that Olynyk's minutes as the series progressed diminished because when rebounding and toughness becomes that much of a factor in the playoffs, to say nothing of defense, he's found lacking.
And who did Stevens turned to? The supposed player Stevens has soured on, a player who was completely rusty given he had just returned from a stress fracture on his foot... to the point that he became our best performer out of all our bigs on both sides of the floor. And I'm willing to be a bit more patient to see if we can capitalize on that. He has the skills, we'll have to see if he can keep the focus.
That has been his main problem. Focus. A lot has been said about his poor defense, but I think it's more of problem of focus than lack of ability. I know what I saw from him in his rookie season, after a poor start defensively, he became extremely dependable off the bench defensively to the point that through a stretch of 2 months or so he, if not mistaken, was carrying the best +/- of our team and that team featured the +/- king in Garnett.
So he's had some setbacks healthwise, and a poor start to the season last year (with Rondo and Green rocking the boat a bit when we were struggling) and he didn't respond well to that. I, more than anyone, realize that character flaw... it's been a problem. But he's a young dude still, those are immaturity aspects which can be cleaned up, and it seems like he's taken step in that direction with him going to the John Lucas' Camp. At the same time, I saw Sullinger applying himself after he came back from his injury showing some things defensively of that which I really liked in his rookie season, and I'm banking on that... and through all of this he's been productive player, even if not to the point we want him to be. All while trying to extend his range with a lack of success so far (if you have him solely shooting mid-range jumpers at the rate he's capable of hitting, I think people would rethink a lot of how they feel about him).
So I rather take a risk on the chance that Sullinger can become the player we hope he can become, than keeping Olynyk who I think has hit his ceiling and found lacking when it matters (even when he's playing well).
Topic: Extend-and-trade idea for Gallinari (Read 5343 times)