Satch Sullinger says Celtics "kind of promised" his son they'd get a center


Great news for Celtics fans. Interior help might be, could be, is possibly on the way.

From Jay King at MassLive.com:

Jared Sullinger's father, Satch, recently told an Ohio news station that the Boston Celtics have "kind of promised" his son they would acquire a true center.

"Next year I think he's going to finally get to play his true position of power forward," the elder Sullinger told ABC6. "And so, at that point, he's going to come home and he's going to trim down and shed some pounds, so he gets a quicker step and a little more mobility. Because they've kind of promised him that they're going to get a center."

I'm not entirely sure what happens when someone "kind of promises" to do something. Maybe Satch Sullinger was worried about speaking out of school and didn't want to publicly commit Boston to something they don't have a ton of control over or maybe Celtics GM Danny Ainge told Jared Sullinger he'd do his best to acquire a center, either by trade, draft or free agent signing. Of course all of those attempts could fail and it would make Ainge seem like a liar if he outright promised to get a big man.

Boston needing a center is far from a revelation. The team had a ton of power forwards this past season with Sully, Brandon Bass, Kelly Olynyk and Kris Humphries, but no centers. Even Ainge himself, when asked about his number one priority in the off season, answered rim protection.

As much fun as it was to watch Sully hold his own against the likes of the DeMarcus Cousins' of the world, it sure would be swell to let the team's young building blocks develop at their true position.

It's also newsworthy that Satch Sullinger said his son is going to trim down and get more mobile over the summer. Sully will never be a high-flyer, but if he can get up and down the court quicker to run with Rajon Rondo, that would be an added bonus to his excellent rebounding ability and knack for scoring inside. I'm sure it will also help his knees and surgically repaired back to carry less weight. There is a possible trade off, however, where if Sully drops too much weight, he won't be able to bang with the seven-footers like he can now in order to snag those rebounds or get to his spots in the paint.

Only a few more days until the draft lottery, then things get real.

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