WALTHAM, Mass. — Jared Sullinger rebounded nicely this season in his surprise return from a fractured foot, turning in one of his best games of the season in the Boston Celtics’ Game 4 playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The forward’s conditioning remains a issue in the eyes of Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, however. Ainge, who called out Sullinger for being out of shape shortly after the big man suffered what initially appeared to be his second season-ending injury in the last three years, reiterated those concerns Thursday.
“We’ve talked about this before, and I hate harping on it,” Ainge said. “Jared wants to be in great shape. Jared works, puts his work in. I think he’s in the process of trying to change his habits and get in the best shape of his career. I’m hopeful that he’ll see the light, and I know that that’s what he wants. And I know that he does work at it.
“I’m a big fan of Jared’s, and I think he has a very bright future, but I think that he’s hurting the longevity of his career and his play now by not being in as good of shape as he can be in.”
Ainge said the team set an offseason conditioning plan for Sullinger, though he declined to reveal any specifics. But it will be on the player to follow it.
“We’ve provided Jared with a lot of tools and a lot of people around him,” Ainge said, “but ultimately it’s his choice how compliant he’s going to be. We can’t watch him every second of his life.
“I hope (the injury)Â was a wake-up call. It appeared to be a wake-up call at the time. But only time will tell. Those are questions you’d need to talk to Jared about.”
Some additional notes from Ainge’s season’s-end meeting with reporters:
— The Celtics will extend a qualifying offer to soon-to-be free-agent forward Jae Crowder. It’s one part of what Ainge says will be a “busy summer” for the team.
— Ainge would prefer to keep Isaiah Thomas on the bench, despite the point guard’s openly stated desire to start.
— The Celtics plan to participate in both the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues. Rising NBA sophomores Marcus Smart and James Young will be a part of those summer league teams, and third-year point guard Phil Pressey might be, as well, per Ainge. Ainge did note the team would like to get Smart more reps at point guard.
Kelly Olynyk will not participate in summer league, as he will join the Canadian national team this August for Olympic qualifiers.
— Speaking of Olynyk, Ainge gave his take on Kevin Love’s claim that the Celtics center intentionally tried to injure him during Boston’s Game 4 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Love underwent surgery on his dislocated left shoulder Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.
“I think that’s a little bit over the top,” Ainge said. “It’s understandable in the heat of the battle that you’d — I feel bad for Kevin Love. He’s waited a long time to get where their team is right now, and now he doesn’t get a chance to play. But I certainly don’t think that Kelly did it on purpose. I don’t even think that play would have been reviewed more than a foul had Kevin not gotten hurt. …
“I’m sure there was a lot of frustration in Cleveland, and they wanted some justice, so they scrutinized it and felt like Kelly gave a little bit too much at the end of that arm-tangling. When someone gets hurt, you’re just under a little bit more scrutiny. But I thought it was just a foul with two guys going for a loose ball.”
— Ainge said that to the best of knowledge, no returning players have offseason surgeries planned.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
