It is less than one month before the start of the 2022-23 NBA season and former Gonzaga Bulldogs big man Kelly Olynyk is on the move. Olynyk was traded by the Detroit Pistons, along with Saben Lee, to the rebuilding Utah Jazz for Bojan Bogdanovic.
The Pistons are trying to complete a core centered around their two young guards, Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, and adding Bogdanovic gives them another proven shooter and scorer to help space the floor.
Meanwhile, the Jazz are in full on rebuilding mode. The move to acquire Olynyk was more about clearing salary, although he should earn significant playing time in Salt Lake City after the team traded Rudy Gobert for a mountain of draft picks.
In fact, the updated depth chart at ESPN has Olynyk starting at center for Utah ahead of rookie Walker Kessler and veteran Cody Zeller. Lauri Markkanen is expected to start at the four, and Jarred Vanderbilt, Udoka Azubuike, and Rudy Gay round out the big man rotation.
Olynyk has been remarkably consistent in his NBA career, which now spans over a decade. He’s averaged roughly 10 points and five rebounds nearly every season he has been in the Association, with a 27-game explosion while with the Houston Rockets – where he averaged 19 and 8.4 in 2020-21 – the only real exception.
This will be Olynyk’s first full season in the Western Conference, with the rest of his career taking place in Boston and Miami prior to the brief stint in Houston and last year’s injury-riddled season in the Motor City, where he averaged 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 40 games.
Andy hosts the Locked on Zags and Locked on College Basketball podcasts, and serves Locked On in a marketing/digital content creator role as well. He lives just outside Portland with his wife Jenna and dog, Tillie.