Kelly Olynyk Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Olynyk, Bradley, Stuckey

November 1st, 2016 at 7:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics center Kelly Olynyk will be out of action a while longer as he makes his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald relays. “I think we’re going to have to give it a few more weeks, get it as strong as you can and feel like you’re comfortable and ready to play and can take anything that’s thrown at you,” said Olynyk, who underwent the procedure on his shoulder May 16th. “I think that’s probably what it’ll be. It’s when you feel ready to play, man. When you feel strong, feel confident, feel like you’re coming in to help the team.”

In other Boston injury news, guard Avery Bradley was forced to sit out practice today with a sore right shoulder and is scheduled to be examined by the team doctor, Marc D’Amico of NBA.com relays. Coach Brad Stevens downplayed Bradley’s shoulder woes, but there is some cause for concern given that he has been experiencing consistent pain in his shooting shoulder — a shoulder that has been surgically repaired in the past, D’Amico notes.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Sixers coach Brett Brown says the team is considered starting Ersan Ilyasova at power forward instead of Dario Saric, who was “thrown into the starting lineup” due to injuries, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter). Ilyasova was acquired from the Thunder earlier today.
The Pacers will be without guard Rodney Stuckey for awhile, with coach Nate McMillan announcing the player will be out of action for several weeks with an injured hamstring. The silver lining of this cloud is that an MRI showed there was no tear, which would have kept Stuckey in street clothes for a far longer duration.
Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net runs down some free agents to keep an eye on in case the Cavaliers decide they need more depth at point guard behind Kyrie Irving.
Brandon Jennings, who is now a member of the Knicks after signing with them this summer, said he knew his time with the Pistons was limited as soon as Detroit acquired Reggie Jackson, Marc Berman of The New York Post relays. “I knew it was over once they got Reggie Jackson,’’ Jennings said. “Just the fact my Achilles injury — nobody knew what to expect from me, how long it would take to come back. Achilles injuries are career-ending injuries. I already knew what time it was.’’ The Pistons traded Jennings to the Magic prior to last season’s trade deadline in the Tobias Harris deal.

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Olynyk, Teague, Arenas

October 30th, 2016 at 10:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Don’t rule out the possibility of extensions for the Pistons‘ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock before Monday’s deadline, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said today that he doesn’t expect the deals to get done, but GM Jeff Bower remains in contact with the agents for both players in hopes of getting something in place under the wire.

There’s more tonight out of the Eastern Conference:

Kelly Olynyk is hoping to be cleared for practice without restrictions this week in his return from offseason surgery on his right shoulder, tweets ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. The Celtics‘ fourth-year center plans to be ready for game action within two weeks.
New Pacers point guard Jeff Teague is trying to figure out the cause of his disappointing start, relays Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana was counting on a spark from Teague when it unloaded George Hill to get him from Atlanta in a three-way trade. But Teague has shot just 20% from the floor in his first three games and has allowed opposing point guards Deron Williams, Jeremy Lin and Rajon Rondo to combine for 52 points and 29 assists. “It’s way different than any team I’ve played on in the past,” Teague said. “We’ve got a lot of talent, but it’s just different. It just is. Everything is different, the concepts; everything is totally different. I’m just trying to get used to it.”
The Magic will make their final payment on Monday to former All-Star Gilbert Arenas, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The high-scoring guard was waived by Orlando in 2011, but the franchise has continued to pay on his $111MM contract. Arenas no longer counts against the Magic’s salary cap.

Latest On Extension Negotiations

October 30th, 2016 at 1:42pm CST by Will Joseph

The Thunder is negotiating extensions with representatives for Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). Discussions are in the $100MM range for Adams, and the $80MM range for Oladipo. Our own Luke Adams examined the extension candidacy of Adams recently, while Arthur Hill looked at Oladipo’s situation.

There’s more extension chatter as the October 31st deadline draws near:

It is still unlikely that deals for Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee and Tim Hardaway Jr. will get done before the midnight deadline, Wojnarowski tweets.
The Wolves are in talks with Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng, while the Hornets are talking about a deal with Cody Zeller, Wojnarowski relays (Twitter link). The Jazz are also in discussions with Rudy Gobert.
The Kings will extend a qualifying offer to Ben McLemore after the season, and the team is still not looking to trade him, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Sixers, Nets

September 18th, 2016 at 4:55pm CST by Will Joseph

While nothing appears imminent, Kelly Olynyk is “very much a player to keep an eye on” regarding trade possibilities for the Celtics, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays. Some teams like the Raptors will likely reach out about acquiring the big man once the season progresses, Blakely writes. That’s because while Olynyk has shown flashes of promise, it remains unclear how consistent he can play at a high level and be utilized effectively in Boston, Blakely adds.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

Realizing that they do not possess the same level of talent as other teams do, the Nets believe their best bet to win games is to be willing to outwork teams, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. The Nets’ staff epitomizes that, Lewis adds, because of their traveling to see players and work with them, which is a reflection of coach Kenny Atkinson, who is known for player development.
Dario Saric is only 22 and has yet to play in a regular season game, but Sixers coach Brett Brown thinks Saric’s experience overseas is more important than his age, Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com relays. Saric started his pro career in 2009, and at the age of 15, he played for Zrinjevac in his native country Croatia, as Camerato points out.

Celtics Notes: Iverson, Zeller, Olynyk

August 25th, 2016 at 9:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics have renounced their rights to center Colton Iverson, their 2013 second-round draft pick, a source told ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg. The 27-year-old Iverson played for the Celtics’ summer-league team but had virtually no chance of making the roster this season with 19 players under contract, including 16 with guaranteed deals, Forsberg continues. By renouncing his rights, the Celtics are giving the 7-footer a chance to receive a training camp invite with another team that doesn’t have a frontcourt logjam and an overabundance of contracts, Forsberg adds. Iverson, who has played in Turkey and Spain the past three seasons, was the No. 53 overall selection in 2013 after the Celtics bought the pick from the Pacers.

In other news regarding the Celtics:

Center Tyler Zeller re-signed with the club for two years and $16MM this summer but his role is undefined, as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com examines. Zeller’s ability to run the floor makes him a candidate to start at some point during the season but he’s not enough of an offensive threat to remain in the lineup, Blakely speculates. His playing time will fluctuate and there may be games where he doesn’t play at all, Blakely adds.
Big man Kelly Olynyk believes the club will miss swingman Evan Turner in a number of ways this season, Forsberg reports in a separate story. Turner, who signed a four-year contract with the Trail Blazers as a free agent this summer, was not only a rotation player but a strong influence in the locker room, according to Olynyk. “He’s somebody who really helps guys out. I think that his voice, that’s something that people respect,” Olynyk told Forsberg. “He just keeps it real, keeps it 100 (percent) every time you talk to him. You know what you’re getting from him.” The link to the interview can be found here.

Atlantic Notes: Olynyk, Randle, Nets

August 3rd, 2016 at 6:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kelly Olynyk and the Celtics have until October 31st to agree to a contract extension, but the center isn’t stressing whether or not a deal is struck, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). “I’m not really worried about that. If they want to do it, they do,” Olynyk said. “If not, you can’t worry about things you can’t control. That’s completely up to them, so we’ll see what happens. … There’s a lot of things that you can’t control in life. If you worry about them, you’re not going to enjoy life.”

The 25-year-old appeared in 69 games this past season and averaged 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.2 minutes per contest. Olynyk is set to earn $3,094,013 in 2016/17 and will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer provided no extension is worked out and Boston tenders him a qualifying offer worth $3,094,013.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Chasson Randle, who agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Knicks earlier today, has a good shot to stick as the team’s third point guard, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. Despite New York being thin in the backcourt, the young guard isn’t taking this opportunity for granted, the scribe adds. “He’s still got to come in and earn it,” Randle’s agent, Kevin Bradbury, told Berman. “He feels this is the place where he can make the next step.”
The Knicks‘ offseason moves were geared about winning immediately, not with an eye on the future, Ian Begley of ESPN.com opines in his look back at the team’s summer. The scribe notes that the team has depth concerns and lacks the outside shooters necessary to maximize coach Jeff Hornacek‘s system, but adds that the squad’s defense and pace of play should be much improved over last season.
Bobby Marks of The Vertical weighed in on the offseason moves the Nets have made.
Want to see where the Atlantic Division teams stand roster-wise? Check out the complete breakdowns along with depth charts at Roster Resource for the Nets, Celtics, Knicks, Sixers and Raptors.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Olynyk, Sloan, Nets

July 31st, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors have focused on keeping as much of their own talent as possible in free agency, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Over the years, Toronto has been a place that star players have left, with the list including Marcus Camby, Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. This summer, the Raptors didn’t have the cap room to keep backup center Bismack Biyombo, but they held onto DeMar DeRozan as part of a core that is largely tied up with long-term contracts. “The improvement of our team is going to come from inside,” said GM Masai Ujiri. “Kyle [Lowry], DeMar, and Jonas [Valanciunas] and Patrick [Patterson] and Terrence [Ross]. They will probably take it to another level.” The Raptors’ major addition in free agency was former Boston power forward Jared Sullinger.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics will probably wait until next offseason to make a long-term decision on Kelly Olynyk, Washburn writes in the same piece. Olynyk can sign an extension up to the October 30th deadline, but Boston wants to see the 25-year-old big man for one more season before making a commitment. Olynyk has missed 43 games in his first three seasons, and Washburn writes that the Celtics want him to display more “toughness and consistency.”
Donald Sloan, who played 61 games for the Nets last season, has reached an agreement to play in China with the Guangdong Tigers, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. His teammates will include former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer and one-time lottery pick Yi Jianlian. The 28-year-old Sloan averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 assists with Brooklyn in 2015/16.
The $100K guarantees the Nets gave to Yogi Ferrell and Egidijus Mockevicius are the largest the organization has ever handed out to an undrafted college player, according to NetsDaily. Brooklyn signed both players to partially guaranteed training camp contracts this week, along with Beau Beech, who got $45K in guaranteed money. Brooklyn now has 18 players under contract, and the website projects veteran big man Henry Sims and summer league standout Marcus Georges-Hunt as possibilities if GM Sean Marks decides to go with the league maximum of 20.

Latest On Kevin Durant

July 3rd, 2016 at 10:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:59pm: The Heat are still alive in the race for Durant, according to a tweet from InsideHoops.com. A source says the theory that Durant is deciding between the Thunder and Warriors is untrue.

8:43pm: Durant was impressed by the Celtics’ presentation on Saturday and is still “seriously considering” signing with Boston, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.

7:55pm: Durant is not expected to make an announcement before Monday, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The final decision will come down to the Thunder and Warriors, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link). A source close to the Warriors told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that Golden State pitched “culture, dynasty, style of play” to Durant, but the source wouldn’t be surprised if he stays in Oklahoma City (Twitter link).

3:25pm: Durant spoke over the phone with Warriors executive Jerry West yesterday, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News tweets. A source told Kawakami that Durant likes the Warriors, but is unsure about leaving the Thunder (Twitter link). Nevertheless, Durant is strongly considering the Warriors and his decision will be released on the Players’ Tribune, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.

9:05am: Kevin Durant plans to make a decision tonight or Monday, but that’s the only certainty as he prepares to meet his fifth and final suitor, writes Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Heat representatives will get the last chance to woo Durant this afternoon, following the Celtics and Spurs, who met with him Saturday, and the Warriors and Clippers, who had meetings Friday. The Thunder have requested a final session with Durant, but he and his representatives have not decided whether to grant that.

Officials from the four teams that have talked with Durant so far haven’t been able to determine whether he is leaning toward any of them, Broussard reports. He speculates that the Clippers may have taken themselves out of the running Saturday night by using a big chunk of their cap space on the three-year, $35MM deal they gave to Austin Rivers.

The Celtics may have improved their bargaining position with Saturday’s commitment by Al Horford, according to Broussard. Durant’s agent, Rich Kleiman, had been trying to convince Horford to join Durant in Oklahoma City, and there may be incentive now to team them up in Boston. However, a source told Broussard that while the Horford addition may enter into Durant’s decision, it won’t be a major factor.

Miami will send owner Micky Arison, chief exective officer Nick Arison, team president Pat Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra, GM Andy Elisburg and executive Alonzo Mourning into today’s session with Durant, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Meeting Durant so close to his deadline puts the Heat in a difficult position, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel, who says Riley’s main goal may be to dissuade Durant from choosing the Celtics.

Jackson says the Heat consider themselves an underdog for Durant, but they have several strategies to take on his $26.5MM first-year salary if he does choose Miami. The easiest would be to trade Goran Dragic and Josh McRoberts without taking salary back, start Hassan Whiteside‘s contract at $20MM rather than $22MM and try to convince Dwyane Wade to accept the approximately $16MM still left.

Durant reportedly flew to Boston on Friday to visit the city, then made a return flight with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, according to a report from CSNNE. The Celtics were happy with the active role that Brady played in the Durant presentation, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI. Brady joined the Celtics’ contingent along with co-owner Steve Pagliuca, president Danny Ainge and players Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk.

Celtics Notes: Ainge, Olynyk, Draft Workouts

May 18th, 2016 at 10:45am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics were unable to jump ahead of the Sixers and Lakers to snag the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery and the team will draft third as a result. With Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram likely to be off the board when Boston picks, team executive Danny Ainge indicated that he doesn’t know who the team will look to select, Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM relays. “We don’t know that yet. We’ll obviously explore that,” Ainge said. “We’re in the middle of that process right now of figuring out who’s in the draft and who’s the best fit for us. We’ll also probably get some calls for that pick I’m guessing, so there’ll be discussion of that too. But right now we’re really in the mode of preparing for the draft.”

Regarding the talent level of the second-tier of players in this year’s draft, Ainge told reporters, “Last year at this time I think everybody saw that [talent drop-off] and it sort of changed between what everybody thought at this time and what happened in the draft. So it’s still too early. There’s still a lot of evaluation. When you’re looking and evaluating in some cases 18 and 19-year-old kids there’s a lot that changes between the end of their college careers and the draft, so I wouldn’t say anything is in stone in how the draft order is gonna go. We’ll just evaluate them all and see how it falls.”

Here’s more out of Boston:

Center Kelly Olynyk underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair damage to his right shoulder, and though the Celtics didn’t announce a timetable for the big man to return to action, Ainge estimates Olynyk will be out for approximately five months, Petraglia relays in a separate article. A recovery time of that duration would mean Olynyk could return during the preseason and potentially be available to start the 2016/17 campaign.
The Celtics are hosting two group workouts today that will include 12 players, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Displaying their wares for Boston will be Abdul-Malik Abu (NC State), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin), Malik Pope (San Diego State), Zhou Qi (China), James Webb III (Boise State), DeAndre Bembry (St. Joseph’s), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Josh Hart (Villanova), Jake Layman (Maryland), Abdel Nader (Iowas State) and Taurean Prince (Baylor), Forsberg notes.
Former Louisiana-Lafayette center Shawn Long has a workout scheduled with the Celtics on June 9th, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets.

Atlantic Notes: Atkinson, Olynyk, Draft

May 17th, 2016 at 5:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets team owner Mikhail Prokhorov indicated that he intends to exercise greater patience than in the past as the franchise attempts to rebuild itself under GM Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays. “We’re all on the same page,” Marks told the media during Atkinson’s introductory press conference on Monday. “In talking to Mr. Prokhorov — he sat in, and he was right there interviewing Kenny with me — he made it well clear that things were going to be done a little differently. He’s given us the reins to build this thing our way, and if it takes some time, it does. But we’ll be doing everything we can to turn this thing around quickly.”

Atkinson acknowledged that Brooklyn’s high coaching turnover rate under Prokhorov gave him pause, but trust in Marks helped him overcome his initial reticence regarding the post, Youngmisuk notes. “I think it gives you pause because you look at the past,” Atkinson said on becoming the Nets’ sixth coach since 2012. “But that’s why you meet with ownership, and that’s why my relationship with Sean was important, because he had an intimate conversation, and when I came up here to interview with them, that was part of my question. I was more than satisfied with the answers. We’re going to build something sustainable. We’re going to build something for the long term, so that excited me and convinced me.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

If the Sixers snag to No. 1 overall pick as well as the No. 2 or No.4 overall one, look for the team to target a playmaker and an outside shooter, Chad Ford of ESPN.com tweets. The scribe mentions the combination of Ben Simmons and Jamal Murray or Brandon Ingram and Kris Dunn as potential pairings.
The Celtics announced via press release that center Kelly Olynyk underwent successful surgery to repair damage to his right shoulder. He will begin a rehabilitation program immediately, according to the team, but no timetable was given for Olynyk’s return to action. The 25-year-old still has one year and $3,094,013 remaining on his current contract.
The Nets worked out former Michigan State center Matt Costello today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relays (via Twitter). Costello is a potential late second-rounder, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him as the No. 71 overall senior.
Former Toledo power forward Nathan Boothe has workouts scheduled this week with the Nets and the Pistons, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (via Twitter). Boothe is the No. 46 overall senior, per Givony’s rankings.