Jared Sullinger revealed through Twitter that he has joined the Toronto Raptors. He could serve as the replacement of Bismack Biyombo, who left the team to join the Orlando Magic.
Sullinger made the announcement by using the Raptors' logo as his new Twitter profile picture. He also posted a picture of himself in his Boston Celtics jersey and used the hashtag #WeTheNorth.
Thank you. RT @norm: Congrats and welcome to the 6, @Jared_Sully0! #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/yuYgixTNAF
— Jared Sullinger (@Jared_Sully0) July 11, 2016
The power forward/center became available earlier this month after the Celtics decided to rescind their offer to Sullinger, which then made him a free agent. According to ESPN, Boston made the move in order to free up sufficient cap space for Al Horford, who signed a four-year contract that's worth $113 million.
As for Sullinger, league sources noted that he accepted a one-year deal with the Raptors and is expected to get around $6 million.
Given Sullinger's playing position, he might have been brought in by Toronto to replace Biyombo. He could also serve as an effective partner for DeMar DeRozan, who recently signed a five-year contract with the Raptors.
On Sunday, just before Sullinger made his big reveal, Celtics coach Brad Stevens talked about the team's decision to release the athlete. He also noted that Sullinger will probably not have a hard time finding a new team because of his talent.
During his last year with the Celtics, he averaged 10.3 points per game with 8.3 rebounds.
"I think Jared's a really good player, and I think Jared will continue to be a really good player," Stevens said. "Obviously when we got Al, that made us make hard decisions. And the thing that stinks about that is having to move on and move forward, both for him and us. But he'll do great."
"I'm hopeful this move will benefit him as well, and I think it will," he added. "We'll see where he lands, but I know there's a lot of interest in him based on how my phone's been ringing and everybody else's, so I'm sure he'll land where he wants to and do exceptionally well."
