Kelly Olynyk Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Paul, Beal, Expiring Contracts, Waiters

July 17th, 2019 at 8:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat and Thunder never came close to making a deal involving Chris Paul, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

Miami was pursuing Russell Westbrook before Oklahoma City agreed to trade him to Houston last week. The focus shifted to a possible deal that would bring Paul to the Heat, but they don’t have the same level of enthusiasm about acquiring him that they did for Westbrook. (Twitter link). A report today indicates that Oklahoma City is pessimistic about its chances of moving Paul and may keep him on the roster for the entire season.

The Heat were only willing to take on the three years and $124MM left on Paul’s contract if OKC met certain demands, including the return of Miami’s draft picks for 2021 and 2023, Jackson adds. The Heat are reluctant to absorb that much salary because it would restrict their flexibility for the summer of 2021.

There’s more from South Florida:

Miami’s next chance to add a star could come if Bradley Beal turns down an extension offer from the Wizards, according to Jackson (Twitter link). He suggests the Heat will be among the teams contacting Washington about Beal if they don’t reach an agreement. Beal will become eligible for the extension, which would pay him $111MM over three seasons, on July 26. Jackson notes that the Wizards have turned aside all trade offers involving Beal so far, but he will become a free agent in 2021 without the extension.
Some of the Heat’s expiring contracts don’t look so bad after this summer’s spending and may prove to be valuable trade assets, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson both have 2020/21 player options, but Winderman states that Olynyk might opt out of his $13.2MM salary in view of this year’s market. Johnson is more likely to opt in for $16MM because of his age. Goran Dragic and Meyers Leonard have expiring deals with no options and are expected to be trade chips.
Frustrated by jokes over his body last season, Dion Waiters showed off his leaner, stronger physique in an Instragram post Monday, as relayed in an ESPN story. Waiters admits to being in a “dark place mentally & physically” during the past season as he tried to shake off the effects of an ankle injury.

Heat, Westbrook Have Mutual Interest In Trade

July 8th, 2019 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat have expressed interest in negotiating a trade for Russell Westbrook, who views the possibility of playing in Miami as appealing, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

A report earlier on Monday indicated that the Thunder are receptive to trade inquiries for Westbrook in the aftermath of the blockbuster deal sending Paul George to the Clippers.

The Heat made a bold move in free agency by gaining a commitment from Jimmy Butler and engineering a sign-and-trade for the swingman. A Westbrook/Butler pairing could make Miami an instant contender in the wide open Eastern Conference, though contractually it would have long-term implications.

Westbrook, 30, has four years and $171MM remaining on his contract, including a $47MM player option in the final year. Moving Westbrook’s contract for future salary-cap relief might be the best Oklahoma City can do at this point.

Miami has already traded away its 2021 and 2023 first-rounders – which the Thunder own – and numerous second-rounders.

Westbrook will make $38.5MM next season but Miami has a handful of players making between $19.2MM and $12MM — Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters and Kelly Olynyk — for salary-matching purposes.

Miami also has to make sure it doesn’t add more salary to its current cap. The Heat are just $986K below the threshold of the $138.9MM luxury tax apron, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Thus, Miami cannot take back more or equal salaries in a potential Westbrook trade because that would hamstring its ability to fill out the roster (Twitter link).

Westbrook and agent Thad Foucher met with Thunder general manager Sam Presti over the weekend and both sides came away eager to find a resolution, according to Wojnarowski. Westbrook doesn’t want to be part of rebuild and that’s where OKC finds itself after George’s trade request to join forces with Kawhi Leonard.

Eastern Notes: Dinwiddie, Knicks, Olynyk, Mykhailiuk

July 6th, 2019 at 12:05pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Nets enjoyed their most successful free agent period ever this week, agreeing to deals with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan. The moves figure to make Brooklyn one of the Eastern Conference’s premier teams next season, one year after the Nets’ made the postseason.

Even with the likelihood that Durant misses most – if not all – of next season, Brooklyn figures to be in the hunt for a top seed. Current Net Spencer Dinwiddie, a crucial part of the franchise’s increased success as of late, reportedly played a major role in recruiting those aforementioned All-Stars.

For the first time, Dinwiddie addressed Brooklyn’s moves, giving a coy response to the nature of recruitment among NBA players today.

“The thing about the NBA, everything you read is plausible,” Dinwiddie said to The Athletic’s Michael Scotto. “And with that being said, obviously, it could’ve happened, it may not have happened.”

With the spotlight now shining on the Nets, Dinwiddie noted that the team expects to be in contention for not just a playoff spot but for a title in the coming seasons.

“Anytime you add two probably top-10 players in the world, multi-time All-Stars, you’re obviously going to get better,” Dinwiddie said. “It’s on the rest of us to kind of help facilitate that transition, and hopefully we can be a very good team next year.”

Check out more Eastern Conference notes:

Even with cap space for two max contracts, the Knicks failed to lure any top-tier free agents to New York this summer. Marc Berman of the New York Post opines that the Knicks’ failures warrant an image overhaul of the franchise if it hopes to lure top players in the future.
Kelly Olynyk remains a member of the Heat, despite nearly being traded away last week. But the veteran understands that having his name come up in trade rumors is just a part of the game, Chad Klassen of CFJC Today writes. “It’s the business side of the game, fortunate or unfortunate, however you want to look at it,” he said. “But you get paid to do something you love and there’s not much to complain about in this industry, honestly.”
The Pistons plan to keep Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk on the roster, thus fully guaranteeing his salary for the 2019/20 season, Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops relays (Twitter link). Mykhailiuk’s minimum-salary contract had a guarantee date of July 5.
After suffering a torn Achilles, C.J. Wilcox thought his career was over. At 28 years old, Wilcox – who re-signed this week with the Pacers – is in the midst of a comeback attempt, Robby General of the Indianapolis Star writes. “Eight months ago, I was done playing basketball after tearing my Achilles,” Wilcox said. “Now I have some level of a contract, which is something to be proud of.”

Sixers, Heat Search For New Team To Join Jimmy Butler Sign-And-Trade

July 1st, 2019 at 12:53am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Heat are still working on options to complete the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade with the Sixers, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The two sides will search for a third team to take on additional salary from Miami, as Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

The Mavericks appeared to be the team willing to take on salary in order to help both teams complete the trade. It was reported that Goran Dragic would be sent to Dallas as part of a three-team deal, but the Mavs then felt that Dragic’s salary would eat into their cap space and hinder their other plans.

Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones were believed to be taking Dragic’s place in the trade, but then it was revealed that the Heat did not want to part with Jones in the deal. The Olynyk/Jones combo wouldn’t have been quite enough from a salary-matching perspective anyway.

The Heat will look for a trade partner for Dragic out of respect for the veteran. The team and his representatives are working to find a deal by July 6. per Shelburne. However, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) hears from Dragic’s camp that there is no joint effort yet to find him a suitor.

Dragic will make approximately $19.2MM next season. After a day of contract agreements, The Mavericks, Clippers, and Lakers are the only teams with the clear ability to absorb Dragic’s deal without sending salary back, though other teams could potentially create the necessary space.

It’s possible the Mavericks will change its stance again on Dragic once they have a clearer picture of who they can sign with their cap space, though that’s simply my speculation.

Assuming the two sides find a third team to make the sign-and-trade work, Josh Richardson will go to Philadelphia and Butler will begin the Miami chapter of his career on a four-year max deal.

Potential Mavs, Heat Trade Hits Snag

June 30th, 2019 at 11:59pm CST by ChrisCrouse

11:59pm: Tim Cato of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter) that the deal is off from the Mavs’ perspective. It’s up to the Heat to salvage the deal, possibly with another team, Cato adds.

As detailed below, Miami’s acquisition of Butler is dependent on the team being able to send salary to a third team, so it’s hard to imagine the Heat not figuring it out with some team, but they’re losing leverage and don’t have a ton of assets left to sweeten the deal.

10:21pm: There’s a “glitch” in the agreement between the Mavericks and Heat, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, who tweets that Miami is reluctant to part with Jones and Dallas is telling people that the deal is off.

The Mavericks maintain that they thought they were getting Olynyk and Jones in the deal, but the Heat don’t want to give up Jones and say they must part with Dragic to make the math work, tweets Stein. As noted below, the Heat would have to send out at least one more player to an Olynyk/Jones package to make the trade work financially.

There’s an expectation that the deal is far enough down the road that things will get ironed out, says Weiss. The Heat’s acquisition of Butler hinges on sending out other salaries, so Miami will be very motivated to get it done. However, as Nahmad points out (via Twitter), it will be tricky for the Heat to stay under the tax apron without moving bigger salaries.

10:01pm: The Mavericks and Heat have changed the framework on their part of the sign-and-trade deal that will send Butler to Miami, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links). Rather than acquiring Dragic, Dallas will land Kelly Olynyk and Derrick Jones, Stein reports.

According to Stein, the Mavs are “huge fans” of Dragic, but didn’t want to surrender flexibility to make additional moves by acquiring his contract.

“In analyzing it, his salary was too high based on other things they’re trying to do,” Dragic’s agent Bill Duffy tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Due to the change, the Heat aren’t quite sending out enough salary to make the deal work, so another outgoing piece will be required, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad.

8:42pm: Goran Dragic will become part of the Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade deal with the Heat sending the point guard to the Mavericks, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. No major compensation will head from Dallas to Miami, as Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets. The Mavs will technically have to send something out and it will likely be cash or a heavily-protected first-round pick.

Miami is sending Josh Richardson to the Sixers in exchange for Butler, who will ink a four-year max deal with a starting salary of approximately $32.7MM. The Heat needed to send out additional salary as part of the agreement to make up for the gap between Richardson’s salary ($10.1MM) and Butler’s new starting salary.

The move to send Dragic to the Mavs had been speculated throughout the day with salary cap guru Albert Nahmad (Twitter link) among those reading the tea leaves. Dragic will join Rookie-of-the-Year award winner Luka Doncic in Dallas’ backcourt.

Contract Bonus Notes: Lowry, Olynyk, Gobert, Harkless

April 10th, 2019 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Although he didn’t play in the Raptors‘ regular season finale on Tuesday night, Kyle Lowry appeared in 65 games in 2018/19, just barely reaching an important threshold for the bonuses in his contract, ESPN’s Bobby Marks observes.

Having met the 65-game criteria, Lowry has earned his $200K bonus for making the All-Star Game, which was deemed likely entering the season. He’s also eligible for another $1.5MM in incentives depending on how far Toronto advances in the playoffs — he’ll get $500K if the Raps win the Eastern Semifinals, another $500K if they win the Eastern Finals, and an additional $500K if they win the NBA Finals.

Here are details on a few more bonuses that have been resolved or are about to be:

Since the Heat failed to reach the postseason, Kelly Olynyk missed out on a $400K bonus that had been considered likely, Marks tweets. That will move Miami further below the tax line and will ensure that Olynyk’s 2019/20 cap hit adjusts from approximately $13.07MM to $12.67MM.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert met a statistical threshold determined by his minutes divided by his rebounds, earning a $250K unlikely incentives, per Marks. If Gobert also earns a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team and secures a $500K likely incentive, his cap hit for 2019/20 is set to increase from $24.75MM to $25MM.
Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless has a $500K bonus in his contract for shooting at least 35.0% on three-point attempts, but he won’t earn it this season, having made just 27.5% of his threes. As Marks details, the incentives had been considered likely this season, but it will be adjusted to unlikely for 2019/20. Portland will slightly reduce its tax bill for this season and Harkless’ cap hit for next year will dip from about $11.5MM to $11MM.

Eastern Notes: Carter-Williams, Gasol, Olynyk, Ennis

April 7th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by JD Shaw

Michael Carter-Williams has thrived in his new role with the Magic, adding defense, size and a much-needed boost of energy off the bench.

Carter-Williams, who won the Rookie of the Year award during the 2013/14 season, has since bounced around the league with multiple teams and largely failed to find a concrete role. That is, of course, until Orlando took a chance on him with two 10-day contracts last month.

“It’s great. It’s a blessing. I can only thank everybody here for giving me the chance to come in and show what I can do,” Carter-Williams said, according to Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel. “I always believed in myself … just a matter of time until I got the chance.”

The Magic are 8-2 since signing Carter-Williams to a first 10-day contract. His hard work paid off in his limited amount of time with the team, and the 27-year-old happily signed a rest-of-season contract with the organization on April 4.

“It definitely feels good, I can’t lie,” Carter-Williams said. “Everybody is playing well … everyone’s been solid. We’ve all had big moments in those [eight] wins.”

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference today:

Marc Gasol has quickly adjusted to his new role with the Raptors, positively impacting the team on both ends of the floor, Dave Feschuk of The Toronto Star writes. Gasol grew acclimated to his new teammates and play style quicker than most expected, with Toronto holding a 17-8 record since acquiring him. “It’s just weird that he stepped in day one and he was right on point … He doesn’t need a learning curve,” teammate Fred VanVleet said of Gasol. “He stepped in from day one and was able to adjust to pretty much everything we did. So that just speaks to his basketball IQ.”
Heat forward Kelly Olynyk has kept tabs on the Canadian men’s national team, most notably the team’s head coaching search ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup that starts on August 31, Michael Grange of Sportsnet writes. Olynyk, who was born in Canada, will likely play for the team this summer. “It’s not a thing where we need someone to micromanage a game and do all that stuff and trick other teams,” he said of the team’s coaching search. “We have the talent, we have the abilities we just need someone to help us put them to the test.”
Derek Bodner of The Athletic ponders how the Sixers could adjust with the latest injury to forward James Ennis. Ennis, who’s averaged 5.3 points and 15.6 minutes off the Sixers’ bench in 18 games, sustained a right quad contusion last week that’ll likely force him to miss at least part of the first round. Jonathon Simmons could receive more playing time in Ennis’ absence, with the playoffs just one week away.

The Impact Of Kelly Olynyk’s Bonus

April 2nd, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kelly Olynyk passed the 1,700-minute mark for the season on Monday during the Heat’s loss to the Celtics and as a result, he’ll pick up a $1MM bonus for surpassing the threshold, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks relays (Twitter link). Olynyk played the entire second half against Boston and he’s been one of the more reliable members of the team this season, playing in all but three games so far this year.

Olynyk has the $1MM bonus for 1,700 minutes on each season of the contract he signed back in 2017. Prior to his Heat deal, his season high in minutes played was 1,538.

The threshold was considered “unlikely” prior to last season, meaning that it was not accounted for in Miami’s 2017/18 salary cap. The bonus was then changed to “likely” after he hit the 1,700-mark last year and it was accounted for in this year’s figures. Had Olynyk not received 1,700 minutes, Miami’s 2018/19 salary cap would have been reduced by $1MM.

Olynyk will also take home a $400K bonus if the Heat make the playoffs, which was also determined to be likely for this season, since Miami made the postseason last spring. If Olynyk had failed to earn either his minutes-player or postseason bonuses, the Heat may have been able to sneak under the luxury tax line, but that’s no longer in play.

The Heat’s team salary remains at roughly $125MM, behind the Celtics for the sixth-highest mark in the league. Miami technically has the highest payroll in the NBA, coming in at $153.23MM though Chris Bosh‘s $26.84MM salary doesn’t count toward the team’s books as a result of the Fitness to Play Panel addition in the latest CBA.

Miami, which currently owns a record of 38-39, could have the highest salary cap ever for a team without a winning record, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald details. Previously, the Knicks held that distinction, going 23-59 during the 2005/06 season with a payroll of $124MM.

The Heat are on their way to being a luxury taxpayer this season. According to Jackson, more than 110 teams have finished in the luxury tax and 22 have had a losing record (the Heat did it twice before during the 2003/04 and 2007/08 seasons).

The franchise has $83MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season, though that figure does not include Hassan Whiteside‘s ($27.09MM) and Goran Dragic‘s ($19.22MM) respective player options.

Southeast Notes: Bryant, Carter-Williams, Graham

March 28th, 2019 at 4:01pm CST by Austin Kent

The Wizards have long been eliminated from playoff contention, but second-year big man Thomas Bryant is taking every late-season opportunity to establish himself as a long-term rotation piece for the club, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post writes.

Bryant recently impressed for the Wizards as the team closed out a tight contest against Phoenix. Bryant’s game-winning bucket, his second of the year, capped off a night in which he racked up 18 points and 19 rebounds, outplaying 2018 first-overall pick Deandre Ayton.

“My teammates believe in me. It’s a real big thing,” the Wizards big man told Buckner. “I give it all to my teammates, they believe in me to make that shot, time and time after I missed so many shots this month, this year. To have that confidence is great.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

While his stats don’t jump off the page, Michael Carter-Williams has made an impact during his brief stay thus far with the Magic, John Denton of the Magic’s official site writes. Carter-Williams’ length and versatility have contributed to several late-season wins but his future with the franchise is up in the air.
Veteran Tony Parker will cede playing time to Devonte’ Graham, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. Hornets coach James Borrego would like to give the 24-year-old additional experience and Parker is on board.
If Kelly Olynyk logs 89 minutes over the final eight games of the regular season, he’ll earn a $1MM bonus built into his contract with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. That’s likely but not necessarily guaranteed. “It’s like one of those things that if you want it too much, you’re not going to get it,” Olynyk said. “You’ve just got to focus on the team and winning and the rest will fall into place where it may.“

Heat Notes: Future, Dragic, Olynyk, Terry

March 2nd, 2019 at 2:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat president Pat Riley spoke this week about targeting the 2020 offseason as a time when his club could make a splash in free agency, suggesting that Miami will have room for “two max contracts” during that summer. However, as we noted when we relayed Riley’s comments, it’s hard to see a path to two max slots for the Heat unless James Johnson and/or Kelly Olynyk turn down player options for 2020/21, and even then it might be tricky.

Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald digs a little deeper into the roadblocks in the way of Riley’s plan. As Jackson observes, not only are Riley’s cap estimates probably unrealistic, but it’s not clear which max players the Heat would even be targeting in 2020. That year’s free agent class looks weaker than 2019’s, and while it’s possible that some stars will sign one-year contracts this summer, there aren’t currently a ton of tantalizing names in the ’20 group besides Anthony Davis, who reportedly has eyes for L.A.

Riley also talked earlier this week about trying to add a quality player to the current group in the hopes of contending in 2019/20, but that won’t be easy either, notes Jackson. The Heat might have to count on lucking out in the draft or swinging a major trade in order to add an impact player, since they could be reluctant to even use their mid-level exception on a free agent, given the club’s proximity to the projected luxury tax line.

Here’s more from out of Miami:

Having made his return from a knee injury on February 23, Goran Dragic is still being eased back into the Heat’s rotation, having come off the bench in each of his last four games. And that’s just fine by Dragic, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. The veteran point guard said he’s focused on getting back up to speed rather than worrying about whether he’s starting or playing with the second unit. “I told [head coach Erik Spoelstra] when we were having a conversation, I said, ‘Spo, don’t think about me. We’re going to figure out things,'” Dragic said. “I know I can’t just go in and be a starter. So for me, I go day by day. My focus is on my rehab. I’m still not done. I still have a lot of stuff to do to try to get my leg stronger. That’s it, basically. In the minutes I play, I just try to help my team. That’s the most important thing right now.”
With the Heat attempting to stay out of tax territory for the 2018/19 season, they may face a predicament regarding Kelly Olynyk‘s minutes going forward, as cap expert Albert Nahmad explains (via Twitter). Olynyk can earn some extra bonus money if he plays 1,700 minutes this season, and would need to average 22.2 MPG the rest of the way to reach that threshold. He has played 21.3 MPG so far in ’18/19, but has seen more action lately and has made the most of those minutes, Nahmad notes.
Speaking of Olynyk, in an entertaining piece for The Athletic, Shandel Richardson takes a look at a spending habits of the Heat big man, who prefers to label his lifestyle as “financially intelligent” rather than “frugal.”
Emanuel Terry‘s 10-day deal with the Heat has now expired, as our 10-day contract tracker shows. There have been no indications that Miami plans to re-sign him, at least not right away.