Ever since middle school, Jared Sullinger has heard the same criticisms about his game: Too fat, too slow, too short, can’t jump, no foot speed and on and on and on. Now that he’s hearing all about it again at the NBA combine, Sullinger has had enough.
“Everybody is overanalyzing my game,” he said. “I’m always the bad guy in every gym. Everybody says I can’t do this or that, everybody points out all the negative things I do. There’s a lot of positives I think I do, but that’s not for me to discuss.”
Sullinger met Thursday night with the Cavaliers, who brought General Manager Chris Grant, assistant GMs Michael Blackstone and David Griffin, scouting director Trent Redden, pro player personnel director Wes Wilcox and recent front-office addition Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Chicago for the combine. He also met with representatives from the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. Sullinger said he wasn’t sure where he was headed for workouts or who was on the list, but he is sure he’ll succeed in the NBA despite all the criticisms. He is projected to go anywhere from seventh to the middle of the first round, which is lower than he would have gone last season in a draft that wasn’t nearly as deep.
— Reported by Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal
