Kelly Olynyk knew he needed shoulder surgery this summer, a right shoulder arthroscopy following a dislocation late last season. However, he considered putting it off if his presence could have helped his native Canada qualify for the Olympics. He eventually thought better of it and had the surgery in early June.
The surgery has an estimated five-month recovery time, which was already going to have him missing training camp and maybe the start of the season.
That timeline hasn’t changed, Olynyk could miss the start of the season, something that impacted his trade value this summer wrote A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.The timetable for his return is sometime next month, but could spill into the start of the regular season. Unsure of how he will perform once he’s back on the floor, that’s likely to cool teams off from inquiring about him too much.
But Olynyk is very much a player to keep an eye on in terms of trade possibilities. He has a tremendous offensive skill set when it comes to shooting or putting the ball on the floor. But throughout his time in Boston, he has been inconsistent with his play. Far too often he will look to get others involved when he has the greatest mismatch for the Celtics to exploit. It’s a tough balancing act, for sure. Better recognition is one of those things Olynyk has to get better at.
Boston landed one star in Al Horford this summer as a free agent, but they are still on the hunt for another alpha, another All-Star level talent that can help propel this team to contender status. That very well may mean a trade, and if one goes down there’s a good chance Olynyk is part of the package.
Boston will not offer an extension of Olynyk’s rookie deal, making him more valuable as a trade asset.
Olynyk has developed into a solid stretch four (or five in a small lineup) who scored 10 points a game and shot better than 40 percent from three for Boston last season. Once healthy, he will get a fair amount of run for the Celtics off the bench.