5 Reasons Why Kelly Olynyk is a Great Pick

That's the title of the article, it's not my choice, although he is growing on me.  The article also provides the draftexpress scouting report on him, which I will post again at the bottom of this post.  It's 15 minutes long, but he may be a key rotation player of ours for the next few years, so it might be worth taking the time to watch.  Why do I say he's going to be with us for a while, when it looks like nobody's safe on the roster?  Because we moved up to get him and haven't traded him as part of a draft day deal.  That tells me that Danny really wants HIM.


http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2013/06/kelly_olynyk_5_reasons_to_like_the_pick.html


The Celtics traded up in the NBA Draft Thursday night, acquiring the No. 13 pick from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for two future second-round picks and the 16th overall pick. With the pick, the Celtics selected Gonzaga big man Kelly Olynyk, a 7-foot, 234-pound center/power forward. The Celtics are trying to rebuild, and they could certainly use a 7-footer, but they could also use guards, scorers, and ball-handlers. There's reason to question whether Olynyk is the right guy. Here are five reasons why he is:

-- He's efficient: Most Boston fans haven't had the chance to watch Olynyk considering he played on the West Coast. Luckily for us, DraftExpress.com watches a lot of games. One major positive in Olynyk's game is his efficiency. His 1.13 points per possession last season were the highest among draft prospects at his position. His 1.1 points per possession in the halfcourt also ranks highly. He's great on the pick-and-roll and a 70-percent finisher at the rim. These numbers are massively big compared to some of the big men who went before and after Olynyk.

-- He's something of a mystery:This is a good thing. Olynyk is unorthodox, but he's gotten it done at a very high level for Gonzaga. There are two schools to drafting, and the Celtics seem to be moving away from the school of best athlete wins the day. JaJuan Johnson, who was the Celtics' pick in the 2011 draft, had the body but never developed the game. Same with J.R. Giddens as a guard. Fab Melo is a work in progress. On the other side, Jared Sullinger, Glen Davis, and Nate Robinson are examples of unorthodox Celtics players who have produced. Boston knows Olynyk can play. The Celtics aren't drafting on "potential" here.

-- He can shoot: The NBA is changing. Rather than using slow, plodding big men, NBA teams are playing small forwards on the block and mobile forwards as centers. If you've been pining for Kendrick Perkins all these years, you may not have noticed, but the league has moved on. Olynyk can step out and shoot, but he also has the height and post moves to be a traditional big man. He makes 77 percent of his free throws. He's unorthodox, but so were Jared Sullinger, Glen Davis, and Nate Robinson, and they were all effective.

-- Danny Ainge likes it: This is going to sound like a kiss-up, but this is a space that recently panned the whole Rivers-Ainge process earlier this week. Ainge felt strongly enough about Olynyk to trade up for him. Recently, he felt strongly about Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Sullinger when not many people did. No matter how you feel about the direction of the franchise, it's hard to argue about Ainge and his staff's judge of talent (this blog would have taken Marcus Williams in the 2006 draft). Let this one play out.

-- It's the first step: As this is being written, a trade of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn for contracts and future considerations is being reported. This was inevitable, but it also speaks to the importance of this single, No. 16 pick. The Celtics view Olynyk as asset, a player worth trading up to get. He's a power forward of the future in the grand scheme of things. He's not a safe pick, which is a good thing. The Celtics need to hit a home run, if not now then soon.







bob


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The Celtics have some scorers, need more offense down low with the option to have the big man float outside to hit the jumper. Kelly can shoot inside and outside. He will help open the lane for Green and Rondo to take it to the hoop. Besides, as the article suggested, he's a basketball player not just an athlete. The old Celtic's style.

KennCelt wrote:The Celtics have some scorers, need more offense down low with the option to have the big man float outside to hit the jumper. Kelly can shoot inside and outside. He will help open the lane for Green and Rondo to take it to the hoop. Besides, as the article suggested, he's a basketball player not just an athlete. The old Celtic's style.

kenncelt,

What we need now is beef. USDA Grade A NBA center beef. Someone to anchor the baseline and keep power players out of the paint.

bob


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That we do, Bob! Kelly does not fill that need, but adds another big man scorer to the arsenal. It would be nice if Iverson developed into that, but not likely. The Celtics have much to do the finish the rebuild.

As Walter Mondale said of Gary Hart in 1984:

"Where's the beef?"

dboss wrote:No need to hype this kid. We drafted him already.

Geez

Dboss

Dboss,

I want you to be happy.


bob


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Dboss,

Again, we're in agreement about Kelly's potential. If someone has the requisite physical attributes, I believe it's easier to learn defense than offense because good offense usually involves some degree of finesse and touch (which can be tough to teach or learn) while the strongest element in team defense is arguably effort.

Sam

dboss wrote:I am slowly warming up to the kid

while I could just find fault with the  things that he does not do well, his potential on offense is intriguing.

So he deserves an opportunity to play which probably may not have been possible under the yoyo master.

Dboss

Once Zeller and Adams were off the board I lost my appetite for the remaining center crop.  Plumlee hasn't inspired me.  I see him as never being better than an acceptable backup center and, if he doesn't work hard and develop his game, maybe a 3rd string center.  Dieng has questionable knees and looks too thin to be an NBA center.  At that point I was expecting/hoping that Danny would take Schroeder, Larkin or The Greek Freak and trade players for a legit center.  When he took Olynyk, I felt like a lot of the air was let out of my balloon, just like you.  Someone, perhaps you, described him as a "stretch 4".  When I think of stretch 4s, I think of Rashard Lewis and when I think of Rashard Lewis I reach for the Pepto.

Then I started to look at his highlight films and his draftexpress scouting video.  I read that Danny said that Kelly "would play power forward in the NBA" and it suddenly clicked for me.  Like you, I started to look for what he could do, as a power forward and not as a center.  With a little luck, a good big man coach and a solid work ethic by the young man (he redshirted himself so he could have another year to develop his game) I could see where he becomes a poor man's Nowitski. Ironically, if you open the dictionary and look up the definition of a 'stretch 4' you'll see Dirk's picture. I just needed to stop thinking of Kelly as a 'stretch 4' and consider him as a PF with range and mobility.

1.  He can score from range like Nowitski
2.  He scored on the inside like Nowitski.
3.  He is a good dribbler for his size, like Nowitski.
4.  He is tall for his position which will allow him to look over the defense, like Nowitski.

Unfortunately, he also plays defense and rebounds like Nowitski too.

As a center, he's underweight, soft and weak.  As a power forward he might still be soft and weak, BDoo might be able to do things about that, but he has what it takes to be a nightmare matchup coming off the bench.  How many backup PFs in the league could guard a mobile 7-footer?  Blatche.  Anybody else?

Unlike previous years where we knew who was making the team, would have a chance at meaningful minutes and amuse ourselves watching a couple of bubble players battling for a final roster slot, this year is much more of a question mark.  Pierce and KG and JET's minutes will be available.  That's a lot of minutes.


bob


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