This will be the former Zag’s sixth NBA team.
Kelly Olynyk is the second Zag to be involved in a blockbuster deal before the NBA trade deadline. He will be leaving his home country’s team to the New Orleans Pelicans while Brandon Ingram is on his way to the Toronto Raptors.
Breaking: The New Orleans Pelicans have traded Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, one first-round pick and one second-rounder, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/tI4jo2cYhM
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2025
This will be Olynyk’s sixth NBA team in his 11 professional seasons (Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans). In 2024-25, the power forward is averaging 7.1 points per game on a shooting split of 50.0 FG%/44.2 3PT%/79.1 FT% through 24 games played while also contributing 3.7 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game. He suffered a back injury during the preseason that kept him out of the first 23 games of this season.
At Gonzaga, he used his redshirt season as a junior in 2011-12 which turned out to be the smartest decision that he’s made in his basketball career. Olynyk would come back the following season in 2012-13 to win the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Year, be named a First Team All-American, and was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. His No. 13 hangs in the rafters of the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Olynyk was the team captain for Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics this past summer and finished in fourth place.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho