Name: Chris McCullough
Height/weight (per Basketball-Reference.com): 6-10, 220 pounds
Career stats (one year of college at Syracuse): 16 G, 28.1 MPG, .478 FG%/1.000 3FG%/.563 FT%, 9.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.1 BPG, 95.7 offensive rating, 88.6 defensive rating
How he was acquired: Drafted by the Nets with the 29th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft on June 25th, 2015
2014-15 season recap: The Bronx native was the 24th best player in the country (according to ESPN) coming out of high school in 2014 and was poised to have a huge freshman season in Syracuse. However, just 16 games in, he tore his ACL in gruesome fashion at the Carrier Dome, cutting his year short and effectively ending his college career. Still, he showed enough in his little time at Syracuse to impress the Nets into picking him in the first round.
Expected role: Since he’s not expected to play until 2016, at the very earliest, it’s unlikely McCullough plays any type of role in the 2015-16 season, but he should be a valued member of next season’s team, as the Nets gave him a lottery grade pre-injury.
Best-case scenario: He plays in at least one game and doesn’t get hurt again. It’s that simple.
Worst-case scenario: He’s out for the entire season, which is probably what the case is going to be anyway.
General thoughts: Remember the whole Kyrie Irving situation with Duke? Chris McCullough’s is similar, even though he’s not nearly as good as Irving was. If his rehab goes well, he’ll make his NBA debut in 2016 and should be a very good forward who — like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — needs his offense to catch up with his defense.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
