According to reports, the Toronto Raptors have agreed to sign unrestricted free agent power forward/center Jared Sullinger to a one-year contract. The Raptors were able to sign Sullinger after the Boston Celtics rescinded their qualifying offer earlier this week.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo’s The Vertical broke the news on Monday afternoon:
Free agent Jared Sullinger has agreed to a one-year deal with the Toronto Raptors, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 11, 2016
Report: Jared Sullinger Agrees to Contract with Toronto Raptors
Sullinger is signed for the 2016-17 season. He will be a free agent again next summer. The deal is reportedly worth around $6 million.
Sullinger averaged 10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 23.6 minutes per game last season for the Celtics. He saw his scoring fall from a career high 13.3 points per game in 2014-15, when he played 27 minutes per game.
Looking forward, Sullinger will be looking for a fresh start with the Raptors. The Raptors needed another big man after losing free agent centre Bismack Biyombo to the Orlando Magic, and allowing Luis Scola to leave. Sullinger may start in Scola’s old role at power forward alongside Jonas Valanciunas. Or he could play the backup role that Biyomba took control of. Other options include forward Patrick Patterson, and the newly drafted Jakob Poeltl.
The Raptors are looking to improve on a franchise best season, where they won their third straight Atlantic Division title, won 56 games, took the number two seed in the NBA‘s Eastern Conference, and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sullinger is going into his fifth season in the league at just 24-years-old. Sullinger has spent his entire pro career to this point as a member of the Celtics after the team drafted him with the 21st pick back in the 2012 NBA Draft.
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