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Kelly Olynyk’s Knee Reportedly “Fine”

By Michael Hilperts

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Earlier this week, Kelly Olynyk injured his knee playing for Team Canada in an exhibition game against Argentina  – following a collision ensued during a ball screen. Although an injury to Kelly Olynyk likely wouldn’t have doomed the Celtics’ playoff aspirations – with their depth at Power Forward – he’s an effective role player whose game strongly compliments Brad Stevens’ offensive system. Olynyk’s size and ability to stretch the floor gives the Celtics’ second-unit positional flexibility, which often yields scoring injections after the starting lineup’s offense stagnates.

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And while Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger and Jordan Mickey provide a modicum of floor-stretching from the bench (assuming Sullinger doesn’t start), none of them bring the same level of long-range shooting Olynyk offers. Therefore, in order for the Celtics to perpetuate their infinitely-versatile offensive identity, they’ll need their three-point shooting C/PF healthy.

Fortunately, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reported yesterday that the damage to Olynyk’s knee was minimal and the removal of him from the game was purely precautionary. Wolstat also reported he’ll be healthy enough to continue competing for Team Canada in the FIBA Americas, which begins August 31st. The FIBA Americas serve as an Olympic qualifier, which Canada will certainly qualify for, considering the recent influx of talented Canadians in the NBA.

While Team Canada’s past teams have been pretty good, thanks primarily to Steve Nash, this squad maybe Canada’s best, featuring an all-time high of nine NBA players, including Andrew Wiggins, Nik Stauskus and Anthony Bennett. While it’s nice to see this level of enthusiasm among its participants, you never want to see players suffer injuries in games that don’t provide monetary incentives.

This holds especially true for players like Olynyk, who haven’t had a chance yet to experience free agency, and thus reap the rewards of a non-rookie contract. Because in the grand scheme of things, money’s far more important to players (as it should be) than national success, especially when its at the sake of largely inconsequential Olympic primers (Canada’s a shoe-in, regardless). However, for a country predominantly fixated on hockey, the stakes seem higher for next year’s Olympics, as Team Canada’s definitely looking to steal some of that attention away from hockey and claim it for themselves.

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