Boston Celtics player report card 2016-17: Kelly Olynyk
The 13th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft may have played his last game as a member of the Boston Celtics.
If Kelly Olynyk has played his last game in a Boston Celtics uniform, he will always be remembered for his Game 7 performance against the Washington Wizards.
The product of Gonzaga put on his Larry Bird shoes in the biggest game of his career. Olynyk scored 26 points displaying a nice inside-outside game in leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After all the hype, however, Olynyk basically disappeared in the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. To his defense, so did most of the roster. However, it was symbolic of the inconsistency of Olynyk throughout his young Celtics career.
With the team’s decision not to pick up his player option entering the 2016-17 season, the 7-foot sharp shooter had much to prove in his wish to remain in Boston long term. It didn’t start out great, as he began the season nursing an injury, but he did become valuable player off the bench and stepped up in games where the team was without either Amir Johnson or Al Horford.
Overall, Olynyk was a nice commodity for Brad Stevens off the bench. He averaged 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds through 75 games.
The good
Along with his legendary performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, Olynyk provided the Celtics with some good games off the bench.
His shooting ability made him a nice stretch big who had his best games playing alongside Al Horford.
When Kelly Olynyk was on, he made Boston’s offense tough to defend because of his ability to stretch the floor and take the ball inside. Much of that was put on display during that Game 7 performance.
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If the Celtics could get even half of what Olynyk did against the Wizards on a consistent basis, he is a player who is worth bringing back. Again, it all comes down to the consistency.
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Kelly Olynyk has the talent on some nights where he looks like Dirk Nowitzi and on other nights, he looks more like a player who don’t even belong in the league.
The Bad
Olynyk’s defense is a weak part of his game. He is not good defending quicker smaller players and is overpowered by big men down low. With his size, Olynyk should have the ability to be the kind of rim protector and rebounder the Boston Celtics need and have been in search of.
Again, like on offense, he hasn’t been able to become a player the Celtics can depend on consistently. Those are a couple of reasons why the restricted free agent knows he may have played his last game in Boston unless he is willing to come back taking a hometown defense.
Overall, I have to give Kelly Olynyk a C+ for the season. As good as he was in the second round against the Wizards, he was equally as bad against the Cleveland Cavaliers. There were many games during the regular season and playoffs where he shined, but there were also many bad plays that overshadowed his contributions in my opinion.
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While I don’t believe Olynyk will be back with the Celtics in 2017, I do believe he showed enough for another team to give him a nice contract. In the right situation, on the right team, he could turn out to be a nice sixth man on a winning team.