It's back up.
Playing with obvious joy, the Nets stealth draft pick, Chris McCullough shows off his handle, his shot and (some of) his athleticism in a new video by Corey Porter, who's chronicled McCullough's recovery and rehab from a torn ACL and is now following his NBA career.
The Nets have said nothing about the status of McCullough for training camp which begins in a month, although he has said he expects to be ready for full contact in November. Chad Ford and others have written that the 6'11" (or 6'10") Bronx and Syracuse product was unlikely to play at all this season, something the Nets never confirmed. Based on this video, that now seems inoperative.
McCullough, a top-rated high school prospect two years ago, had been projected as a lottery pick until he blew out his knee in game last January. The Nets reportedly made him a guarantee months before the draft that if he was available at No. 29, they'd take him. His coach at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, called the pick an "enlightened move" and predicted his former charge would be a "frontline" NBA player in two or three years. At 20, McCullough is the youngest Net since the team traded away Derrick Favors in the Deron Williams trade four years ago.
Porter also recently recorded McCullough's Skills Academy in the Bronx where every child got a t-shirt with his hashtag #theysleep on the back.
UPDATE: After being online for about an hour, the video of McCullough was taken down by its producer, without explanation. Later, the producer of the video disclosed the Nets had asked him to take the video down. McCullough was not supposed to be dunking. Now, it's back up, dunks and all.