Scottie Barnes Explains How Kelly Olynyk Can Help Toronto's Offensive Attack

The NBA’s best offenses almost all share one commonality.

Consider the list for a moment: Indiana, Boston, the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, and Oklahoma City. For one, they’re all loaded with talent. It’s no surprise they’re also among the league’s very best teams. But save for L.A., four of the league’s top five offenses all have a big man who can shoot.

That’s why the Toronto Raptors wanted Kelly Olynyk.

No, the 32-year-old isn’t Myles Turner or Brook Lopez defensively, he doesn’t have the scoring chops of Kristaps Porzingis, and he’s not as exciting as Chet Holmgren, but when it comes to spacing the floor, he’s one of the league’s very best.

For Scottie Barnes, Toronto’s All-Star forward, that’s exciting.

“They have to be aware of him on the outside. So it opens more driving lanes, more kick outs, defense collapses, and kickout to one mores,” Barnes said Saturday following his first game playing alongside the Canadian center. “[They’ve] just got to be able to watch him on the perimeter so it gives us more spacing, gives more flow to our offense and we can play out of that as well. [If] they close out, we can keep driving and kicking and swinging it, it helps us.”

Having a big man who can shoot is a game-changer for an offense. It forces opposing big men to step outside their comfort zone and stretch to the perimeter where they can’t contest shots at the rim.

“Just spaces you out so much,” Cavaliers coach J. B. Bickerstaff said Saturday. “Your rotations change a little bit defensively, how you stop drives, how you protect the paint, and those types of things.

“But this game is about spacing, and [with the way] the rules are set up, you put guys in isolation situations and the offense has the advantage because you're not allowed to touch guys and be physical. So it helps to kind of eliminate a shot blocker or a rim protector for guys who can attack the basket and create more files because there's less people there.”

That’s what Barnes needs.

Not only does it clear up the paint for Barnes’ driving lanes, but it forces opposing teams to think twice before sending help Barnes’ way. If they do, he can pick apart defenses by whizzing around kick-out passes to open shooters like Olynyk.

It’ll take some time for everyone to get on the same page in Toronto. Olynyk said Saturday’s game felt strange only having worked with the Raptors for 24 hours or so. But as Toronto’s chemistry develops, the offense should grow.

For so long the Raptors felt stagnant offensively under the previous regime. Now there’s room to breathe and for Toronto, that should be exciting.