Kelly Olynyk is in the mix alongside Chicago’s Nikola Vučević, Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas and Portland’s Robert Williams III on the list of big men perceived to be available via trade leading up to the deadline. It is important to note, furthermore, that Olynyk was nearly traded to Golden State ahead of last February’s deadline, sources said, before the Utah Jazz swung a deal to send the Canadian to Toronto instead.
Source: marcstein.substack.com
Source: marcstein.substack.com
More on this storyline
The Raptors, to this point, have resisted mounting trade interest in center Jakob Poeltl, league sources say. Bruce Brown Jr. (on an expiring $23 million contract) and Kelly Olynyk (in Year 1 of a fairly movable salary) are regarded as the coveted veterans Toronto is most open to trading before the deadline. -via marcstein.substack.com / January 5, 2025
While most of the criticism justifiably goes to Barnes, Rajaković rightly pointed out that his teammates weren’t active enough away from the ball in those moments Thursday, getting caught watching the All-Star. At least one of the plays, the one that led to the missed 3 off no passes, was not a classic isolation. But it was simple stuff. “That’s part of … basketball,” Olynyk said. “You have to have a certain package of plays that you can go to that (lead to) a good shot. Otherwise, teams are going to switch and now you get stagnant. Now you take a bad shot. And that’s kind of what you’re trying to get away from and slowing it down and making sure that you get something that you want rather than just kind of playing and then realizing, ‘Oh shoot, we didn’t get anything. Now there’s three on the shot clock.’ That’s kind of what you’re trying to avoid. But sometimes, you fall into it anyway.” -via New York Times / December 23, 2024