Bottom Line: Jared Sullinger excited for opportunity with Toronto Raptors

“Rebounding is the most selfish thing you can (do) for a basketball team,” he said. “Nobody’s going to get mad if you just get every rebound. You won’t hear any teammate yell at you, cuss you out or get mad about you taking every rebound.

“You’ve got to be selfish. The more selfish you are, the more helpful you are. It’s almost being selfish to selfless.”

The Ohio State product averaged a career-high 8.3 rebounds a game in 2015-16 with the Boston Celtics to go along with 10.3 points and 2.3 assists before inking a one-year deal with Toronto in the off-season.

Sullinger — who would have finished second on the Raptors in rebounds per game with those numbers — said signing with Toronto after the club made it all the way to last season’s Eastern Conference finals just felt right.

“It’s a winning culture,” said the 24-year-old, adding that he turned down more money and longer term elsewhere. “Look at the guys that are here. You want to be a part of that.”

The 21st pick at the 2012 NBA draft, Sullinger said he picked the brain of Celtics teammate Amir Johnson, a former Raptor, before making the switch.

“Amir’s one of my favourite teammates of all time,” said Sullinger, a native of Columbus, Ohio. “He really doesn’t care about stats. He just cares about winning. With that type of attitude, and everything he said about Toronto and the love he has for the city, organization and the people in general, it was really just a no-brainer.”

Sullinger said he expects his role will be slightly different than it was during his four years with the Celtics as he looks to form chemistry with guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, as well as centre Jonas Valanciunas early on. He will also be expected to pick up some of the rebounding load after Bismack Biyombo, who finished second on the team behind Valanciunas last season, signed with Orlando as a free agent.

“You got to distribute the ball, but at the same time there’s going to be times where I have open shots just because DeMar, Kyle and JV command so much attention,” said Sullinger. “There’s going to be times where I need to take my shots and other times where I need to make plays.”

Head coach Dwane Casey has said the starting power forward job is Sullinger’s to lose, pointing to a unique combination of physicality, smarts and range.

“His basketball I.Q., he’s one of the best-passing big men in the league, excellent rebounder,” said Casey. “He’s going to be a good three-point shooter for us to be able to space the floor. Defensively, he defends with his brain.”

DeRozan said he worked out with Sullinger before camp and was impressed.

“A lot of versatility. He can score the ball in the post, he can pass, he can knock down 15 footers, he can step beyond the three-point line,” said DeRozan, who is coming off a summer that included winning Olympic gold for the United States with Lowry. “He’s a big body and can get us all open. It’s going to be great once we get him implemented into the system.”

The Raptors are in Burnaby, a city just east of Vancouver, for a third straight training camp. Toronto will play the Golden State Warriors to open its pre-season schedule at Rogers Arena on Saturday before travelling to Calgary to take on the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

While the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001 after just six seasons, Casey said the region’s love of basketball is obvious.

“Just like Seattle, it’s surprising that there’s not a team here,” he said. “We’ll take it because we want to be greedy and have the whole country.”

—

Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Bottom Line: Jared Sullinger excited for opportunity with Toronto Raptors

More Local News