Raptors Explain What Kelly Olynyk Can Do For Scottie Barnes & Toronto's Offense
Sure, the Kelly Olynyk story is fun.
Maybe you’ve heard he grew up a Toronto Raptors fan listening to games on his bedside alarm clock tuned into Chuck Swirsky’s calls on the FAN 590. Maybe you know the story about his mother scorekeeping for the Raptors or his father working as an associate coach in Toronto for a year. For children growing up in Toronto with NBA aspirations, it’s the kind of feel-good story this season has been lacking.
But that’s not why the Raptors traded for Olynyk.
Toronto isn’t targeting Canadian players for the vibes, if you will. Olynyk was brought in because he’s talented. Specifically, he’s 6-foot-11 and can shoot three-pointers.
It’s a tad ironic the Raptors added Olynyk in the same season they traded Pascal Siakam away. For years, Siakam was reportedly clamoring for Toronto to add a floor-spacing big man. If the Raptors couldn’t trade for Kevin Durant, it was Indiana’s three-point shooting center Myles Turner that Siakam reportedly wanted, as The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote.
Only now, it’s Scottie Barnes’ turn to reap the rewards of playing alongside a modern NBA big.
“I think you want to put [the right] skill sets around him, so I think it’ll be interesting to see Kelly’s skill set [with Barnes],” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said following Thursday’s trade deadline.
Olynyk should fit like a glove in Toronto’s new pass-heavy offensive system. He’s shooting 48.6% on catch-and-shoot three-pointers this season, the best of any big man with at least 70 attempts, and when it comes to playmaking, he leads the league in assists per game among bench bigs.
“I think he’s going to fit our offensive style of play really, really well,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said. “We watched some film and some of the sets that he wanted to run with him even more. He's already getting his imprint on it — like, 'If this player does that, I can find him there. He can do that. We should be running more of this, more of that.' He's obviously a very talented player.”
Olynyk gives Toronto a look the organization hasn’t had in years. Aron Baynes was the closest the Raptors have had to a floor-spacing big and that signing didn’t quite go as planned.
Since then, Toronto’s most prolific center Jakob Poeltl has essentially been limited to shots within 10 feet of the hoop. While Poeltl has certainly been a positive for Toronto’s offense, he’s clogged the paint for Barnes who attempts only 28.8% of his shots at the rim when Poeltl is on the court compared to 33.3% when Poeltl sits.
Alongside Olynyk, that should change.
“I think it's going to create even more room for us,” Rajaković said. “I think it's going to create an open lane for drives and. When Scottie goes into post-ups, we're going to have more capable shooters outside. So it's not going to be that easy to decide, 'Let's just go in and help.' With shooters that we now have on the team, I think it's going to be harder and harder for teams to decide to go under on pick-and-rolls or DHOs or off-ball screens.”
Olynyk isn’t expected to be the long-term answer for Toronto at backup center. He’s 32-year-old and while he’s expected to re-sign with Toronto this summer, he’s not a foundational part of this group moving forward. But he gives the Raptors a low-cost opportunity to see how a floor-spacing big man fits with Toronto’s young core.
This wasn’t a home run swing for Toronto at the deadline, but if the goal was to add players who should make the organization better, Olynyk should do that. The fact that he’s returning home is just a convenient plus too.
