Utah Jazz trade Kelly Olynyk to Toronto Raptors
The Utah Jazz have traded Kelly Olynyk and second-year guard Ochai Agbaji to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Kira Lewis, Otto Porter Jr. and a 2024 first-round pick, according to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
The first-round pick will be the least favorable of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers–two teams are tied for first in the Western Conference–Houston Rockets and Jazz, Wojnarowski notes.
In late December, the Raptors traded OG Anunoby for fellow Canadian RJ Barrett–plus Immanuel Quickley, one of the better young guards in the league. Now, they have acquired yet another fellow Canadian in Olynyk, who was viewed as one of the best stretch big men on the trade market.
Olynyk, 32, has appeared in 50 games this season, averaging 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game on 56.2 percent shooting and 42.9 percent from 3-point range, which would be a career-high, albeit on a career-low 3.0 attempts per 75 possessions. This will be Olynyk’s fourth team over his last six seasons.
He is on a expiring contract, making $12.2 million this season, per Spotrac. Since the Raptors used a first-round pick to acquire him–albeit one that’s likely going to fall toward the back-end of the first round–one could assume he’s not likely to receive a buyout.
Olynyk complements center Jakob Poeltl offensively and defensively while theoretically provide extra spacing for Quickley, Scottie Barnes and others as a small-ball five. He’s one of the better passing bigs in the league, providing another connective option within Darko Rajokovic’s offense.
One could also assume that Toronto liked Agbaji’s upside more than it thought it could in the latter portion of the 2024 draft. We won’t know until years down the line, but this draft isn’t looked at as a strong class. Porter will likely be looked at as a buyout option, while Lewis could receive a bigger opportunity intermixed in Utah’s backcourt.
What do you think about this trade? Let us know in the comments!
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