Raptors center Kelly Olynyk has agreed to a two-year, $26.25MM contract extension with Toronto, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The team has officially announced the deal.
The Raptors acquired Olynyk at the trade deadline alongside Ochai Agbaji in exchange for Otto Porter, Kira Lewis and a late 2024 first-round pick.
As we relayed on Thursday, there was optimism the two sides would be able to reach an agreement on a new contract. As we noted at the time, the lottery-bound Raptors likely wouldn’t have traded first-round capital if they didn’t envision Olynyk being part of their future.
Olynyk, who was on an expiring contract, was eligible to agree to an extension with the Raptors up until June 30 to avoid free agency. The league’s extend-and-trade rules allowed the big man to sign for up to two years, with 5% annual raises, and he’ll receive that maximum amount. After earning $12,195,122 this season, Olynyk will make $12,804,878 in ’24/25 and $13,445,122 in ’25/26.
According to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg (Twitter link), the two sides have been working on the deal since Olynyk was acquired at the deadline.
The 32-year-old Canadian has appeared in nine games with the Raptors since the trade. He’s averaging 9.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per night, while shooting 46.0% from the floor and 26.3% from beyond the arc for Toronto. On the season as a whole, spanning 59 appearances with Utah and Toronto, he holds averages of 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Because Olynyk’s new deal doesn’t exceed the extend-and-trade limitations, he’ll remain trade-eligible once the offseason begins, though it seems unlikely that the Raptors will flip him to a new team before the 2024/25 season.
As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca observes (via Twitter), addressing his contract situation now means that Olynyk won’t have to worry about it if and when he reports to Team Canada’s training camp in late June ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
Good move ……. like Agbaji too. Raptors have to be patient. I think they will be a playoff team next yr.
Just feels like the Raptors could’ve revamped their team if they had made some better trades in past 2 years instead of waiting.
Such as?
Whew its thin upfront this free agency.
Many exception teams were probably eyeing Kelly, options are getting sparse today
Not bad. Keep Nwora also, dude only gets minutes when someone is hurt but he’s a bucket.