NBA Free Agency rumors: Kelly Olynyk officially becomes free agent

With Gordon Hayward officially joining the Celtics, it looks like Kelly Olynyk is officially on his way out in Boston and into free agency.

As always, when one door opens, another closes. In this case, with Gordon Hayward officially signed to the Boston Celtics, Kelly Olynyk is now on his way out of Boston and able to explore new options.

After an impressive postseason, including some clutch play in the Eastern Conference semfinals against the Washington Wizards, many Celtics fans were hoping Olynyk would stick around in Boston for a few more seasons. However, Hayward was obviously the priority, and that comes at a price.

On Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Olynyk was officially “renounced” by the Celtics after Hayward joined the team, which makes him an unrestricted free agent able to go explore other teams this offseason.

The move shouldn’t fully surprise anyone, as rumors had been swirling of Olynyk’s departure out of Massachusetts and into free agency for weeks, especially as the Celtics’ pursuit of names like Jimmy Butler, Paul George, and Hayward all ramped up over the last month.

Luckily for Olynyk, although he’s entering free agency a little late in the game, there are still plenty of teams out there looking for a reliable big man to join their rotation, and Olynyk showed this past postseason that he can compete on the big state.

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With Blake Griffin returning to the Los Angeles Clippers, Paul Millsap’s move to the Denver Nuggets done, and not a ton of other big men out there, Olynyk will have a big market to jump into at this point in the summer.

However, while the day is a net positive for the Celtics, it will definitely be sad to see “The Clinic” leaving Boston and donning a new uniform next season.