Jaylen Brown made the Philadelphia 76ers look pretty smart for trading for him last night, but now, a potential disaster is on their hands. Ariel Hukportis suffered what is now confirmed to be an Achilles tear, making their concerning big man depth even lighter. At times like these, the Sixers have to turn to whoever they can to fill the void, and someone who makes sense is Boston Celtics alum Kelly Olynyk.
The Celtics legend isn't what he was, as he wouldn't have gone unsigned by any NBA team, but he has some familarity with Brown (albeit from a decade ago) and gives the Sixers some big man depth. Plus, Philadelphia has a rather... curious history of adding Celtics alumni over the past decade.
If and when the extent of Hukporti's injury gets confirmed, Olynyk would be their best option, strictly speaking, right? Well, besides him being on the wrong side of 30 and being more of a stretch big, it gets a little messy.
Olynyk has signed with a different club
Olynyk may be out of the NBA, but he still is continuing his basketball career. He signed with BC Roma, an Italian basketball team. Not much is known about the contract at the moment. Sometimes players in Olynyk's shoes have opt-out clauses so they can re-join the NBA if anyone comes calling.
Until there is confirmation that he can return to the NBA, bringing him in won't be so easy, and that's if Olynyk wants back in. Even if anyone would want to return to the NBA, Olynyk may want to go where he can play consistent minutes, which, despite the Sixers' concerning big man depth, would still be a problem.
Despite being mostly a benchwarmer last season, Olynyk is definitely still good enough to play a good amount of minutes in professional basketball, even if it would be overseas.
76ers being hard-capped at first apron is a problem
By signing Dean Wade to the non-taxpayer MLE, the Sixers hard-capped themselves at the NBA's first tax apron, meaning they can't exceed it. They will likely get a disabled player exception if they want one, but they can't use it immediately due to cap restrictions.
This means that even if the Sixers and Olynyk wanted to join forces, it wouldn't happen for a while. They could sign him to a pro-rated veteran's minimum, but not until December at the earliest. It's a complicated situation for the Sixers.
To some degree, it would be cool to see Brown and Olynyk reunited again, even if it would be in Philadelphia and knowing that times have changed since 2017. However, if the Sixers go that route. it would get messy for them.
Add us as a preferred source on Google