Cleveland Cavaliers Should Sign Jared Sullinger

Former Ohio State Buckeye Jared Sullinger has become an unrestricted free agent. The Cleveland Cavaliers should sign the Ohio native to backup Kevin Love.

Jared Sullinger is now an unrestricted free agent after the Boston Celtics rescinded his qualifying offer, according to SB Nation‘s Kevin O’Connor.

After a year in which he improved his conditioning and thus production the Columbus, OH native should receive interest from multiple teams. Yet, his best move could be to return to Ohio and play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jared Sullinger should return home. It’s a move that could look meaningless on the surface, but be another underrated acquisition for the team.

https://twitter.com/Jared_Sully0/status/750726532822433792

Though he had a rough go in Boston, at times, it was never due to talent.

When Sullinger played for the Ohio State Buckeyes, he was named the USBWA Freshman of the Year and was a finalist for the Wooden Award in his second and final collegiate season. He was an All-American in both of those years.

Sullinger entered the draft with the Big Ten’s best career defensive rating (87.8) and offensive rebounding percentage (13.3). To add, he had the NCAA’s best career Win Share Per 40 Minute figure (.283) and ninth-highest PER (30.3).

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To say Sullinger was good in college would be an understatement. Sullinger was phenomenal.

In the NBA, Sullinger showed that he could still be phenomenal. However, only showing dominance in spurts, especially after showing that you were an extraordinary player in college, only lends to the belief that Sullinger was simply a collegiate star that didn’t translate his effectiveness at the NBA level.

Some cited his weight. They were right.

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Sullinger doesn’t have to be a well-toned athlete to succeed, in fact, weight loss without significant muscle gain could be detrimental to his ability to bang in the post.

However, Sullinger has to consistently maintain his weight.

Last year, after incessant conditioning, Sullinger posted the best regular season per 100 numbers of his career. His defensive rating was 100, he grabbed 12.7 rebounds, generated 3.5 assists and averaged 1.4 steals as well. He also had his best on-court net rating, which is 4.8 points per 100 possessions. The year before his on-court net rating was -2.3 points per 100 possessions.

Sullinger also had the best defensive win share total (3.6) of his career as well.

Simply put, his stock is trending up.

Sullinger is a player that the Cavaliers should target because he also fits a need.

Cleveland has no big man skilled in the post outside of Kevin Love. Meanwhile, Love’s usual role on the offense is as a floor spacer and makes Love inconsistent inside.

After making 61.1 percent of his looks from inside last year and 66.9 percent the year before that number has dropped dramatically. Last year, he only made 55 percent of his looks from inside.

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Conversely, Sullinger’s weight loss made him lose a bit of effectiveness as well. However, he converted a higher percent (59.1 percent) of his looks from inside last season.

On a team with Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and far more shooters and spacing than the Boston Celtics that number could easily rise to above 70 percent.

Sullinger is a two-way post player that can play both frontcourt positions. He’s better at converting in close than both Love, who is inefficient, and Tristan Thompson who lacks post moves. He’s useful on a team that alludes to roster balance as a reason for the team’s elite play and ability to adjust.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers would be smart to have interest in Chris Andersen and Larry Sanders. They would also be smart to sign Jared Sullinger as Kevin Love’s backup.