Over the offseason, the Boston Celtics went through some shuffling of their roster that included the departure of veteran big man Kelly Olynyk via free agency.
The 26-year-old had been virtually cut by the Celtics four days into free agency in order to open up more salary cap space for the team to sign All-Star forward Gordon Hayward. Even after that move, Olnyk recently told the Boston Globe that he still wanted to remain in Boston.
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“It was super tough, being here for four years, coming in as a rookie, kind of growing up here, I know I planted roots and made my home here,” he said. “Being from Canada, all my family is in Canada, one thing you know where your home is. And when [Hurricane Irma] hit in Miami, the only place I knew to go was here.”
Olynyk had developed a strong bond with the organization and the city in his first four seasons in the league. He had become a valuable contributor to the team coming off the bench and was a fan favorite.
The Celtics were the only team that Kelly Olynyk has played for in his young NBA career and moving to another team likely wasn't in the plans given that they were coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. This, along with him having one more year left on his deal there, was essentially no reason for him to consider playing anywhere else at that point.
However, it didn't take long for Olynyk to find his next landing spot as he signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Miami Heat. He has an opportunity to etch out a similar role with the Heat as a scoring option and solid source of rebounding behind James Johnson.
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