Former Ohio State star Jared Sullinger has had a rollercoaster of a professional career ever since being selected 21st overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2012 NBA Draft. Though he showed signs of promise early on in his career with Boston, injuries and weight issues have crippled his once bright future.
Just this summer in The Basketball Tournament we saw Sullinger suit up as a member of the Ohio State Alumni team and serve as a dominant interior force, though the competition wasn’t NBA talent for the most part. After going this entire summer as an NBA free agent and still not finding a home, Sullinger has decided to take an alternate route, one that includes him playing overseas. Sullinger has agreed to a contract with the Shenzen Leopards of Chinese League on a deal worth $300,000 over just a two-month span according to NBA reporter David Pick:
NBA free-agent Jared Sullinger signed a two-month, $300,000 deal in China with the Shenzhen Leopards, source tells me.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) September 12, 2017
Though playing overseas in Europe has been a prime option to play professionally elsewhere, the Chinese League continues to exponentially grow in popularity. More and more borderline NBA talents have been opting to play in China such as Jimmer Fredette, Brandon Bass, Ty Lawson, and Donatas Motiejunas just to name a handful.
With the deal lasting only two months, Jared Sullinger may have agreed to the deal with the NBA still in mind as the regular season now sits just over a month away. Hopefully, Sully performs well during his limited time in China and gets some looks from NBA teams in need of a bench big man, a role I believe he could fill effectively if given the chance.
