The Detroit Pistons are having a tough 2021-22 NBA season. They are in the early stages of their rebuild and it is showing in their product on the court. The Pistons are currently tied for the fewest wins in the NBA with four, going 4-18 thus far.
As a result, Detroit is one team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks as a team that will be sellers at the deadline. While the NBA Trade Deadline is still months away, there is an important date approaching in the NBA calendar; December 15th.
That is when a large majority of players that were signed or traded for during the offseason are eligible to be moved again. That is the date we could see trade talks start to pick up around the league as the available player pool will grow.
For the Pistons, there are a few players that fall under this. One of them is Kelly Olynyk, whom HoopHypes’ Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozlan discussed on the most recent episode of The HoopsHype Podcast.
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When Olynyk signed with the Pistons, agreeing to a three-year deal worth just about $31.2 million, many people were left scratching their heads. Plenty of people believed the Pistons would realize the error in their ways and try to trade Olynyk as soon as possible, and Gozlan believes that to be the case as well.
“I imagine Olynyk will be available. He was playing well until his injury. He’s only making $12 million, so that’s a really affordable deal I think any team can take on.”
Olynyk suffered a grade-2 MCL sprain on November 12th and was expected to miss at least six weeks of action. In his 10 games this season, Olynyk has averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 23 minutes per game.
He can provide a contending team with good frontcourt depth, as he can stretch the floor as a center. Olynyk has knocked down 34.1 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and is a 36.6 percent shooter in his career. The Gonzaga product also brings plenty of playoff experience to the table, playing in 48 postseason games and averaging 17.4 minutes per game.
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Given his production, modest salary and skill set, there are plenty of contending teams that would like to add Kelly Olynyk to their roster. Locked into an affordable deal for two more seasons, the Detroit Pistons should have no issues finding a trade partner for Olynyk.
