NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason targets for the New York Knicks
5. Kelly Olynyk, Boston Celtics
Instead of continuing to overpay Kyle O’Quinn as their third-string center, I propose the Knicks divert some of that money to Kelly Olynyk, who could also be called Good Kyle O’Quinn. Olynyk does all of the things that I’ve ever heard O’Quinn is supposed to do for his team, but much better, and then also some extra skills that make him good. The frustrating part of this is O’Quinn’s $5 million player option for the 2018-19 season, which makes moving him more difficult. But if the Knicks can find a taker for the two years and $10 million remaining for O’Quinn, his replacement is sitting ready on the market.
Boston faces a rough decision on Olynyk this summer, with their dreams of landing Gordon Hayward and more standing in plain sight. Unfortunately, their path toward adding that much talent could include renouncing Olynyk when free agency starts. His qualifying offer would cost the cap-strapped Celtics over $4 million. Renouncing him would make it extremely unlikely for Boston to re-sign him, losing out on the ability to match a contract offered by another team.
Olynyk may be so valuable that the Celtics cannot afford to lose out on that opportunity, especially after his otherworldly performance in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference semis this year. He may quietly be just as much of a priority as Hayward or Paul George, given the value his skillset has in today’s NBA. A big man who can pass and shoot as well as Olynyk can take an offense to another level.
When you think of the triangle, you think of exactly that kind of player: the Toni Kukoc or Rick Fox who facilitated historically great teams. Neither of those players are seven feet tall, but Olynyk has the chance to take New York to another level on offense even in part because of the matchup problem his height poses. He could play next to Anthony, Porzingis or Hernangomez in the frontcourt, and could even handle the bigger matchup on defense in some cases.
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Olynyk is destined to earn a lot of money in July, for all of these reasons. It would probably take most of New York’s $20 million in cap space to get him, but some players are worth it. Depending on the Knicks’ future priorities, Olynyk could indeed be worth it.