23 mins 40 seconds and he scored 18 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks w/ 2 turnovers....that's an awesome effort in 24 minutes of play.
He's only taken 25 free throws this year and hit 16 @ 64% so I'd expect that to improve.
In the last 5 games he's played an average of 25 minutes a game. I'm not sure if Brad bumps this up to 30 mpg+ or just leaves him at 25 mins to keep him fresh.
If he continues to show progressive improvement on his conditioning he's probably going to bump that up to the 27-28 minute mark by All Star break (which is what he played last year).
Now would be the time to trade him, problem is all the other teams in the NBA know what we know about Sully- that he could just trip, stumble and fall backwards into a marshmellowy pool of chocolate since it's only been 16 games so far. He's still got a long ways to go but he's definitely lost weight and definitely in better shape overall. He's playing with more discipline and more motivation this year.
We just don't know whether it's the contract year, or the competition in the locker room that's motivating him- and that's what will scare teams away from trading anything of real value for him right now.
He's probably going to be a better trade asset if we sign him to a nice 4x$12 million deal like Amir's, hopefully with a fat clause.
One thing's for sure, Tommy Heinsohn loves him.
I completely agree with everything that's been said.
I'm just not 100% confident trading him away like that.
I still believe he can be like a Kevin Love lite. His rebounding numbers are excellent, and he has a very underrated outlet pass that has so much potential. His shooting form/mechanics is really good for a big man.
Sign him for like 12-14 million, for 3-4 years, and I would be okay with that. I would also give him some clauses to garner higher raises if he could hit the 3 pt more efficiently, or better conditioning.
I really like Sully, and I've been extremely high when we drafted him, and extremely low as of last year. But I believe Sullinger is talented, but doesn't put the effort to make his body the best it can be.
We'll see if he can pull it all together, but some team like the Hornets will surely overpay for him, especially if they can picture him being the piece they need, (which is far from the truth).