I am really torn on Olynyk. From listening to Olynyk’s post game interviews, I am getting the sense that he genuinely enjoys playing in Silas’ free flowing system. (BTW the past couple of games have been very entertaining so I have decided to go easy on Coach Silas until next season.) I am also cautiously optimistic that Olynyk won’t cost much. He is on the wrong side of 30 so rebuilding teams won’t have much interest in him. Contenders most likely view him as a stretch 5 and I can’t possibly imagine him being valued as a core piece. So most likely he will be getting the MLE money which about 10M. We have his bird right so maybe we will offer him extra 2-3M per year, if we want to keep him. But is Olynyk as a main piece going to translate to winning? How does Wood-Olynyk pairing work defensively? And are we even aiming at contending for playoff next year? If the goal is to tank for one more year, what’s the point of retaining him?
no, the Olynyk-Wood pairing does not work defensively...we have an absolutely atrocious 117.4 defensive rating in 436 minutes with those 2 on the court together Olynyk is ballin on the worst team in the league. When he’s been on a good team, we’ve seen what he is: a 20 mpg bench big. if they want to overpay him for 1 year or offer him like a 2/20 deal that expires along with John Wall, then whatever...he is not a long-term piece, and I hope nobody here is falling for the 30 y/o vet playing at a career best level on the worst team in the league
Going into free agency I would set a limit to offer Kelly Olynyk. Offer $13M with something like $15M the max offer we go. Similar to C Wood when we had him at $10M but others joined in the bidding.......bumped up the pay to $13M. Olynyk is perfect for the Silas scheme. When Silas gives the ball to Olynyk free throw line to 3-pt line to run the offense, he can make some good passes. Get 6 assists or more. I just don't want to pay him too much more than C Wood. If a team offers him $18M I let him walk. I think we have some Bird-rights w/Olynyk, though. Stone is doing right by signing at least invitees to camp like Cameron Oliver or anyone. Agent for Olynyk will see we have nothing but Wood and ask for a brink truck load of money. Have us offer a barrel. Unfortunately the center/PF option in free agency is not good. We may have to settle for Thies or trade our excess like House for Aaron Baynes type player. Good leverage we lack.
It’s not all about core pieces. Pieces gotta fit and, frankly, they fit seamlessly with KO. Next season’s Rox are destined to be youngyoungyoung. They will needneedneed some ‘adult’ supervision and Kelly has been here doing that. DJ, too? There hashashas to be some sense of balance. If it takes 3/50 I’d endorse signing him up.
Agree with all these points. I’ll stick risk having him for 2 years. Option for 3rd. His attitude and vet experience is more valuable than anyone else on the team. He is def not part of the long term future. I honestly would get rid of Wood if the right package came.
I’d look to get rid of Wood starting next offseason if he’s not planning to re-sign, or would only re-sign for the max...he simply does not have the impact to be given a max contract...he’s not even better than Nikola Vucevic, and nobody is trying to give Vuc a max deal Olynyk does provide some value with his spacing and BBIQ, so I’d do 1-2 years since it’s not like we have much cap space to sign other guys anyways, and no high level free agent is coming here atm...by the time his deal is over, Wall and EG will also be off the books and we can move forward with a ton of cap flexibility
https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...lynyk-praises-fit-with-rockets-stephen-silas/ Video from article
If only Wood can play like Bam Adebayo defensively, then we can sign Kelly to an appropriate contract. Wood and Kelly doesnt work. The question should be, who do you want to keep? Kelly or Wood? Id rather keep Kelly to be honest and trade Wood for a better rim protector
Of course KO is saying he loves being here. That gives him better negotiating position when talking with potential suitors. I'd take him back if the price was right. 2 years, $13 sounds right. But beyond that... no. He's a box score guy; doesn't really contribute to winning. I could be talked into 3/$13 or so not because I think he's good, but because we won't be winning in the next 3 years anyway.
He’s a keeper... for the right price! He’s a Veteran player who’s playing great under Coach Silas system, AND who is actually willing to stay during the toddler years! Plus if he signs for a reasonable price, he wouldn’t be that hard to move if an opportunity presents itself down the road! I think 3yrs at 40mill is a decent contract. I would also make his last year a team option! I don’t think this gets it done though... Go Rockets!!! ....... ....... .......
I don't think it's as cut and dry as "keep him or don't." Two factors are really important here before they make a decision on him: the draft and his asking price. If the Rockets end up drafting Mobley, for example, how can they justify spending a ton of money on Olynyk and Wood with their star center needing minutes to develop? Then there's the cost. If you assume the Rockets keep all their young guys on non-guaranteed deals (Thomas, KJ, Tate) and you factor in Bradley's $5.9 million team option, they're looking at almost $100 million of contracts right there. Assuming the cap is somewhere around $110M-$115M, that doesn't give them a ton of wiggle room. They'll also have decisions to make on Brooks, Nwaba, Brown, Wilson, Exum and Lamb, some of which you have to think will be back next season, and most of which should come cheap. They could (and probably should) let Bradley walk to save that $6 million, and if they can get something in return, they could probably easily get Augustin's contract off the books to save another $7 million. But maybe after bringing back Brooks and 1-2 of the other young guys, they're looking at $15 million-$20 million in cap room, is it worth it to use most of that money Olynyk? They do have his Bird rights, so they could go over the cap, but do you want to operate over the cap as a team that's likely going to be terrible for a while? Lots of questions to answer here, but my gut still tells me he's worth keeping at the right price, which ideally wouldn't be worth more than $10M-$12M a year for 2-3 seasons. The offense has just been much better since he came to the team, and I think he's been good for the development of some of the young guys. But if he wants much more than that, I think you have to let him walk at that point. You can't be investing $15M+ per season in a 30-year-old when most of your core is going to be 20-25 years old.
He is useful, but we need a younger center around 6'10" with length who can rebound and play defense instead of him. I don't know if a S/T with him and KJM is going to be good enough for that.
We can keep him as long as we get some kind of banger and shot blocking to blend with both he and Woods.
I would add a third factor and that's what we do with Wood. Wood played in about 57% of the season and his thin frame worries me. He needs a solid off-season of strength training (esp ankles and legs). If he comes back strong and looks good, we can either sell high at the trade deadline or decide we're going to keep him and make him part of the reboot/rebuild longer-term. KO gives us something this team has needed for years--a versatile big man who can stretch the floor, rebound, and throw some weight around underneath. But Kelly came with bonus skills--low post scoring, some pretty fantastic playmaking ability, and solid veteran leadership. His all around game truly blossomed in his 26 games with Houston and in Silas' system. Frankly if the money is close, he needs to decide what's more important from a career perspective. He's likely not going to get the same opportunity with another team (esp a better team) as he had here. He'll go back into that MIA/BOS role that is valuable, but nowhere near as fun or entertaining as what his game displayed as a Rocket. With KO fully integrated, the offense took on a new dimension. His ability to find cutters put tons of pressure on other teams (just ask LAL and LAC). He was literally playing as a Point 5, who else can do that in the league? Joker, and he's likely going to be the MVP. I'm hoping both sides see the benefits and come together on a deal. BTW, he maybe 30, but his game is not predicated on athleticism, so it should age well.
