Kelly Olynyk free agency: Boston Celtics forward ranked 21st among top 2017 free agents by ESPN

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Kelly Olynyk free agency: Boston Celtics forward ranked 21st among top 2017 free agents by ESPN




Kelly Olynyk could present the Boston Celtics with a difficult decision in his 2017 restricted free agency. (Matt Slocum / AP Photo)



Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com



on August 25, 2016 at 4:34 PM, updated August 25, 2016 at 4:39 PM



Boston Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk helped himself enormously last season by proving to be a highly accurate 3-point shooter.

The Celtics needed that shooting, since the wings often struggled with 3-point consistency. Olynyk's 40.5 percent from behind the arc, in addition to his improving individual defense, helped raise his value, and if he starts next to Al Horford this season, he could be in for an even bigger payday under the new salary cap.

Olynyk will enter the offseason as a restricted free agent, so Boston may have a difficult matching decision to make. Here's ESPN Insider on Olynyk's value, ranking him No. 21 among free agents:


Projected 2-Year WARP: 10.0 | 2015-16 RPM: 2.8 | 2015-16 WARP: 3.8

The second-most accurate 3-point shooting 7-footer (minimum 400 attempts) in NBA history behind a certain German who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, per Basketball-Reference.com, Olynyk shot 40.5 percent from beyond the arc last year. He has a chance to emerge as a starter next to Al Horford this season before hitting restricted free agency.

Some of the more notable names Olynyk surpassed included Jeff Teague, Serge Ibaka, Patty Mills and Danilo Gallinari. He trailed Steven Adams, Dennis Schroeder and Cody Zeller (as well as Jared Sullinger), while players like Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant led off at numbers 1, 2 and 3.

The Celtics will utilize Olynyk extensively this season once he has fully recovered from his shoulder surgery over the summer. If he shines as the Celtics make a playoff run, they will find themselves in a somewhat difficult situation, assuming they don't agree on an extension before the offseason. Boston has incredible flexibility and can easily find space for a max contract, but if Olynyk gets to restricted free agency, a team looking to force Danny Ainge's hand could throw a big offer sheet at him and force Boston to choose between re-signing Olynyk (for less than the max) or angling for a superstar in free agency.

The preferable option for Ainge would clearly be to extend Olynyk for a shorter term contract that isn't prohibitive for additional acquisitions this summer. After all, Olynyk is 7-feet tall and a 40-plus percent 3-point shooter. In today's NBA, that's a highly valuable player.

But the Celtics are looking for a superstar, and Olynyk — at least currently — does not project that way. If it comes down to a choice between keeping him and picking up a top-flight player in free agency, Olynyk could be out the door.



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