Barry Jackson: Olynyk said hasn’t considered whether to opt out of contract after season. Would be stunning if he opts out of 12.2 M in this NBA economy
Storyline: Kelly Olynyk Free Agency
28 rumors in this storyline
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Michael Grange: Interesting speaking with Heat’s Kelly Olynyk regarding national team next summer, as a pending free agent. “I’ve been there year-in, year-out … but definitely [my contract] is there. It’s a lot to risk, especially with me getting hurt last year ….”
Kelly Olynyk received a call from the Heat shortly after Hayward agreed to a deal in Boston, and he quickly committed. “It all really happened so fast, things really fell into place, they were really interested,” Olynyk said. “It was surreal. [Team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra], those are guys who have been through everything, won championships, both as coaches. They run a tight ship down there and I like what they presented and had to offer.”
The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed forward Kelly Olynyk. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“As soon as Kelly Olynyk became an unrestricted free agent, we pursued him,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “He is not only a post player, he can also play away from the basket. What we like the most is that he is a playmaker, tough defender and rugged rebounder. At just 26 years old, he fits in perfect with our young core that will play together in their primes.”
David Aldridge: Source confirms four-year, $50M deal for Kelly Olynyk in Miami (@Adrian Wojnarowski first). Deal includes fourth-year player option, per source.
Barry Jackson: Heat ultimately thought Olynyk was better player than Gay at that money. Concerns with Gay on several issues, including Achilles return.
Albert Nahmad: Waiters gets 4-years, $52M. Olynk gets 4-years, $50M. Including Ellington, McRoberts and Babbitt, Heat would have up to $6M cap room left.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Free agent Kelly Olynyk has agreed to a four-year, $50M-plus deal with the Miami Heat, agent Greg Lawrence tells ESPN.
Mike Fisher: #Cowboys fans, if you don’t mind, a #FishTips #Mavs TweetStorm a’comin: 1) Olynyk ‘wants more $ than (Dallas) wants to pay.’ – Source
Boston has already renounced its rights to Kelly Olynyk, a key offensive spark off the bench with his ability to score from the perimeter. Now it looks as though the Celtics will have to trade away one of its elite defenders in order to continue shedding salary. And the three targets most teams have focused on, are Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart. Terry Rozier is also available, but the market for the aforementioned players has been much stronger.
Sam Amick: Lots of interest for Kelly Olynyk, I’m told, with Nets, Pacers, Kings, Jazz coming on strong. Pacers are trying to shed salary to land him
Adrian Wojnarowski: Flurry of action surrounding Olynyk, with multiple teams gauging his price point in unrestricted free agency now, league sources tell ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Boston has renounced restricted free agent Kelly Olynyk, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski: There will be a strong market for Olynyk, whose cap hold needed to leave Boston payroll to create space to sign Gordon Hayward.
With Gordon Hayward now agreeing to a four-year $127M max contract, Celtics management now has a series of transactions to do in order to create cap space. The Celtics would have to pull the qualifying offer on Kelly Olynyk, renounce free agents Jonas Jerebko, James Young, Gerald Green and waive the contracts of Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson (or trade).
Adam Himmelsbach: According to a league source, the Celtics have extended a qualifying offer to Kelly Olynyk.
Steve Bulpett: Celtics will give the qualifying offer to Olynyk. He would still likely be gone if the C’s reach agreement w/Hayward. They’d need the space.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Sources: Boston’s pursuit of cap space makes it increasingly likely Kelly Olynyk becomes unrestricted free agent. He’ll have strong market.
Kelly Olynyk understands the Boston Celtics’ salary-cap situation will loom over his restricted free agency this summer, but said he will not worry about how the team’s pursuit of top targets could impact his future. “It is what it is,” Olynyk said Thursday afternoon after appearing at a Shamrock Foundation carnival for students who achieved perfect attendance throughout the school year, boosted their grades considerably or won one of the Celtics’ annual writing or art contests. “I love that we have so much that can go on. (Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has) put our team in a position where that’s the case, and that’s why we were No. 1 in the East, that’s why we’re still trending upwards. And hopefully we can do something this summer that keeps us trending that way.”
Jay King: Olynyk on FA: “I haven’t thought a lot about it, but we’ll see what happens.” Said he would love to return. Doesn’t know what to expect.
Big man Kelly Olynyk, who rescued the Celtics with Game 7 heroics against Washington, is a restricted free agent, and while Boston does not want to lose him outright, a sizable offer from another team could price him out of the Celtics’ range. If possible, too, the Celtics would like to find a taker for big man Tyler Zeller, who is owed $8 million next season.
The Celtics also were unable to agree on a contract extension with fourth-year forward Kelly Olynyk. Ainge said he met with the 7-footer’s agent Monday, as the sides tried to finalize a deal before the midnight deadline. Ultimately, though, maintaining salary-cap flexibility that will allow the Celtics to pursue a maximum-contract free agent remained the top priority. “If we didn’t have max cap flexibility next summer and the possibility to land a superstar-type player, an All-Star-caliber player, it might have been different in our negotiations,” Ainge said. “But because we still are there, with where we are in cap management, there was no reason to rush into it.”
“Once we sort of use that flexibility, we may not have it again,” Ainge said. “So there’s two ways to look at that. You see a lot of teams that are just going and signing extensions with players they have and sort of closing that door on that flexibility, but we’re not there yet. I think, as an organization we want to maintain that flexibility, and Kelly is part of our long-term plan as well.”
David Aldridge: At the moment extensions not looking likely for Otto Porter, Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee, per sources.
Forward/center Kelly Olynyk is eligible to sign a long-term deal before the Oct. 30 deadline but the Celtics are likely to wait until next summer to determine whether to invest in him long term. This is a critical season for Olynyk, who is coming off shoulder surgery. He will be depended on to be the floor-stretching sharpshooter the Celtics have desired the past three years. Olynyk has missed 43 games over his first three seasons, primarily because of injuries. The Celtics want more toughness and consistency from their former first-round pick .
August 6, 2020 | 7:35 pm EDT Update
Salman Ali: Russell Westbrook is out tonight (right quad contusion). Ben McLemore will start tonight.
Kendra Andrews: Jamal Murray and Troy Daniels are official OUT tonight against Portland. So the Nuggets will be without Murray, Daniels, Barton, Harris and Millsap.
Ira Winderman: Spoelstra, “It’s not like we were up 40.”
Duane Rankin: “Kobe is with me every day.” Devin Booker. #Suns
August 6, 2020 | 6:55 pm EDT Update
Anthony Chiang: FINAL: Bucks 130, Heat 116.
StatMuse: The Suns are 4-0 in the bubble. In that span: Booker — 28 PPG, 7 APG, 40 3P% Ayton — 18 PPG, 9 RPG, 59 FG% Rubio — 17 PPG, 6 APG, 50 3P% Saric — 15 PPG, 8 RPG, 53 FG% Cam Johnson — 13 PPG, 9 RPG Cam Payne — 12 PPG, 54 FG%, 53 3P% pic.twitter.com/V9Xr8l1Uso
August 6, 2020 | 5:30 pm EDT Update
August 6, 2020 | 4:52 pm EDT Update
Jason Jones: Kings beat the Pelicans, 140-135 for their first win in the bubble after 3 losses. Bogi career-high 35 pts, Fox 30 pts, 10 asts. 140 pts are a season high.
Oleh Kosel: Alvin Gentry on the Pelicans loss to the Kings: “They shot the ball extremely well. We were never into them though…We basically gave up a 50-point quarter.” Then the head coach laments the defense in the second half.
Brandon Rahbar: Dennis Schroder is still with family after the birth of his baby. There isn’t yet a timetable for his return. If he tests negative every day out of the Bubble, he’ll need to quarantine for 4 days when he returns. OKC’s last game is in 8 days. Plenty of time before playoffs.
Bradley Beal: It’s getting SPICY!!!!!!!!!!
August 6, 2020 | 3:58 pm EDT Update
Oleh Kosel: Pelicans dropping to 1-3 in bubble & play-in hopes slipping away – blew 16-point lead vs Jazz – foot-stomped by Clippers – beat mediocre Grizzlies – outplayed by more spirited Kings Don’t think front office won’t consider subpar Orlando results. They’ll react to certain facets.
Jamie Hudson: Nuggets Injury Report vs. Blazers today: Troy Daniels (right hip; tightness) and Jamal Murray (left hamstring; tightness) are questionable. Will Barton (right knee; soreness), Gary Harris (right hip; muscle strain) and Paul Millsap (rest) are out.
August 6, 2020 | 3:20 pm EDT Update
Tim Reynolds: The initial reads on all tests performed on Jimmy Butler’s foot/ankle have not revealed any major issues, source says. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said pregame today that Butler is in rest and recovery mode.
Jason Jones: Career-high 33 points for Bogi
August 6, 2020 | 2:24 pm EDT Update
That will hinge on a couple of primary factors: which treatment option Simmons decides on, and how his body responds to the treatment. While Simmons’ general durability and recovery from a recent back injury are encouraging factors, it’s hard to say what the timetable looks like until the specifics are hammered down. Surgery is usually not recommended for first-time injuries of this nature, but even conservative treatment plans can last in the neighborhood of six weeks.
Brown, who sat down for dinner with Simmons on Wednesday evening inside the bubble, recalled the work Simmons put in to get ready for the Orlando restart in the first place. One word to sum up Simmons’ mood? “There is clearly disappointment. I don’t know if anyone really understood what he did to get ready to play basketball again. He really invested time,” Brown said. “It’s monotonous, some of the smaller things he had to do…I think the uncertainty of what really is it right now is obviously there. But he’s a great teammate, and his teammates care about him.”
Few could have imagined the red-hot start that both the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns have gotten off to in the NBA bubble with 3-0 records. For Pacers forward T.J. Warren, the setting in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, suits him perfectly: all basketball, all the time. Never mind the fact that he’s facing his former team that traded him to Indiana last summer for cash considerations. Warren says he just wants to hoop.
“Even with all that in the past, I was always self-motivated,” Warren told ESPN by phone Wednesday. “Never allowed nobody to put a limit on my talent. No matter what the political stuff was or anything from high school, college to the NBA, you always face adversity, but I feel like it’s how you respond, how you rise to the occasion and I feel like me, personally, I just always feel like I’m able to adapt and respond in a positive way with my game.
Booker nailed a buzzer-beating, turnaround jumper over Paul George to cap a 35-point performance in a 117-115 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Even as impressive as he has been, Booker still finds the time to chat regularly with his old teammate as they’re looking forward to the clash. “We still communicate. We still talk a lot,” Booker said of Warren. “This relationship, that’s for life. It’s a respectful relationship. I’m happy the situation that he’s in and the opportunity that he’s getting and the way he’s performing.”
August 6, 2020 | 1:36 pm EDT Update
Chase Hughes: Jerome Robinson on life in the bubble: “I’m the best fisherman here. I grew up fishing.” Robinson is from North Carolina.
August 6, 2020 | 1:10 pm EDT Update
August 6, 2020 | 12:21 pm EDT Update
Jim Boylen a keeper?
But as the Sun-Times learned this week, even if Karnisovas didn’t like what he would have seen from Boylen he would likely be handcuffed from making a change. According to several sources, there is strong growing momentum that financial concerns the Reinsdorfs have about the 2020-21 NBA season will keep Boylen in his current seat, as well as most of the coaching staff.
KC Johnson: Regarding Jim Boylen, @NBCSChicago has reported all offseason that Arturas Karnisovas has worked to empower him and his staff and wrote on July 21 about how a first-year head coach would be a tough sell to ownership. Nothing has changed. nbcsports.com/chicago/bulls/…
