Should Kelly Olynyk be re-signed?

“Kelly Olynyk the Klynyk is the maaannn,” I heard my youngest son teasing his friends in his room over NBA 2K video games last summer.

“Yeah Kelly is a god,” one of his friends replied. “KO-41 baby!”

I asked my son later what all the ‘Olynyk’ talk was about, and he went on a rant about how #41 is his favorite number, Kelly is a superstar, and among their gang has almost cult-like legend status.

I was a little disappointed to hear the lack of reverence for the game of basketball from these kids.  When I was growing up in the 80’s, we took our hoop heroes very seriously: MJ, Hakeem the Dream, Magic, Bird, Dr. J, and so on.

My only consolation was in the humorous tone that I detected in the underbelly of their Kelly Olynyk proclamations.  As much as they tried to act serious in their professed adoration for the Canadian, I could tell it was tongue-in-cheek.  Their game seemed to symbolize fans outlook on the native of Kamloops, British Columbia – he tantalizes with amazing plays, but hasn’t excelled consistently enough to climb the NBA status ladder.

Olynyk is a tantalizing prospect and one can easily see why Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, drafted him #13 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft.   He’s 7’ feet tall, he can shoot from the perimeter, and he has a great feel for the game.  He can also put the ball on the floor and get to the basket.

Olynyk’s versatility is at a premium in today’s NBA game.  Just take a look at the NBA’s top team, the Golden State Warriors, and one will see the effectiveness of shooting prowess in their frontcourt players such as Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.  

Kelly is the prototypical “pick and pop big”, as front office execs and coaches would say.

Given the Celtics current situation, and this being a contract year for Olynyk, the question comes up: Should the Celtics aim to re-sign the big man?

After two seasons of averaging in double figure points (10.3 and 10.0 per game), Kelly is down to just 8.0 points per game this season.  His rebounding is down from 4.7 to 4.2 boards per game.  And most alarming, his three-point shooting has fallen from over 40% last season to just 34.8% this year.  

Injuries may have played a part.  After missing games, it is challenging to reestablish oneself back into the flow of the rotation.  And the presence of All-Star center Al Horford, a premium “pick and pop big” himself, may have also affected the frequency and quality of touches for Olynyk.

The Celtics maintained future salary cap flexibility by not extending Olynyk by November 30th.   Unless he is packaged into a trade this season, the Celtics will certainly extend Olynyk a qualifying offer ($4,279,021) by June 30th to ensure he becomes a restricted free agent.  

But that move will likely be a mere formality, as it’s highly likely that a suitor will be found for Olynyk’s versatile services at a figure considerably north of the qualifying offer. One that Boston would be unlikely to match.  In the new NBA, a $4 million dollar a year is quite literally, chump change.

Another thing to consider is Brooklyn’s top draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, that Boston owns.  A top-3 pick in the next draft could land Boston a superstar forward such as Duke’s 6’10 Harry Giles.   Drafting a super talent, on a rookie contract, and at Kelly’s position, would be much more appealing than overpaying for Olynyk’s services.

While Olynyk is a nice, versatile player that can help any NBA club, his value is waning for the Celtics.  Barring a huge second half of the season, Olynyk’s greatest contribution to Boston’s success could being packaged in a trade for the star that the C’s need to truly challenge for a title.   

A similar scenario happened to former Celtic Ryan Gomes, who had shown flashes as a nice, serviceable player in 2006-2007.  Fortunately for the Celtics, and for Banner 17, Ainge was able to package Gomes into the now-iconic deal that landed Kevin Garnett back in 2007.  Let’s hope history repeats itself!

Gomes went on to have solid career for a second-round pick.  One could argue that Olynyk has underperformed his draft status as a #13th pick, but he still has a lot of his career ahead of him to make his mark.

“Why be Lebron when you can be Kelly?” my son sarcastically chants from his room.  “Why be a King when you can be a god?”