The center spent parts of four seasons with the Celtics as they ascended to Eastern Conference prominence.
Former Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk reportedly has a new home, with SuperBasket reporting that he's going to sign with BC Roma.
Olynyk is now 35 years old and coming off a season in which he played in 42 games for the San Antonio Spurs, who reached the NBA Finals before losing to the New York Knicks. He averaged 3.2 ppg and 1.8 rebounds.
And while those numbers are nothing special, he's had a very solid career over 13 years.
The Kelly Olynyk file
Drafted with the No. 13 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft out of Gonzaga, Olynyk has played for the Celtics, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, New Orleans Pelicans and Spurs. He had much more stability in the first half of his career, spending his first four years with Boston and his next 3.5 with Miami before getting to Houston in 2020-21.
He was part of the 2019-20 Heat team that got to the NBA Finals in the COVID season, which finished up in the NBA bubble.
In addition to his NBA career, he has represented Canada on the international level, including at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Canada finished fifth.
How about his time with Boston?
In four years with the Celtics and head coach Brad Stevens, he played in 278 games, averaging 9.5 points per game from 2013-17. While Isaiah Thomas gets much of the deserved credit for bringing the Celtics back to prominence, Olynyk was part of those teams as well. He helped the Celtics get to the Eastern Conference finals in 2016-17, averaging 9.2 ppg in those playoffs.
Ironically, he played in that 2013-14 season with Phil Pressey, who was just named as the head coach of the G-League's Maine Celtics.
Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk (41) dunks the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors 99-86. Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY SportsIs this the end of his NBA career?
You absolutely never say never, and a player as accomplished as Olynyk could probably continue to have a role on an NBA bench, but evidently he wants to find a place where he can have a more prominent role, possibly with a bigger salary as well.
How about the current Celtics?
The C's continue training camp in preparation for the preseason opener, which is Oct. 8. The preseason will include four games in advance of the regular season opener, which is set for Oct. 20 against the Detroit Pistons.
The Celtics went 56-26 a season ago and earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons were the No. 1 seed and figure to be solid again with Cade Cunningham, one of the league's best players.
