Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Kelly Olynyk has enjoyed a long career thanks to his unique blend of size, shooting, and playmaking ability from the frontcourt. His skill set allows him to fit a variety of offensive systems, giving teams a versatile big man who can create opportunities for both himself and his teammates.

Here is detailed information about Kelly Olynyk:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: Kelly Tyler Olynyk
  • Nationality: Canadian
  • Age: Born April 19, 1991
  • Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Height: 6’11” (2.11 m)
  • Weight: 240 lbs (109 kg)
  • Wingspan: 6’10” (2.08 m)
  • Shoe Size: 16 (US)
  • Number: Typically wears #13
  • Position: Power Forward / Center
  • High School:
    • South Kamloops Secondary School (Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada)
  • College: Gonzaga University (Gonzaga Bulldogs) (2009–2013)
  • NBA Draft: Selected 13th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks (rights traded to the Boston Celtics)
  • Teams Played For:
    • Boston Celtics (2013–2017)
    • Miami Heat (2017–2021)
    • Houston Rockets (2021)
    • Detroit Pistons (2021–2022)
    • Utah Jazz (2022–present)
  • Championship Rings: None as of 2024
  • Kids: No publicly known children
  • Siblings: He has two sisters, Maya and Jesse

Player Archetype / Play Style

Kelly Olynyk’s player archetype is a skilled stretch big and offensive connector, a seven-footer whose value comes from floor spacing, passing feel and versatile half-court offense more than interior dominance. Offensively, he functions best as a pick-and-pop threat, handoff hub and secondary playmaker who can shoot from deep, attack slower defenders off the bounce and keep an offense flowing with quick reads, while defensively he is better cast as a positional team defender than a true rim-protecting anchor, relying on size, anticipation and effort rather than elite vertical pop or length. At 7-foot-0 and around 240 pounds, Olynyk has the size of a traditional center but plays with the skill set of a modern spacing big, and his overall style is defined by crafty scoring, ball movement, perimeter touch and adaptable frontcourt offense that helps lineups breathe. (NBADraft)

Scouting Report

Kelly Olynyk has always struck me as a player who manipulates defenders more with patience than speed. He’ll catch at the top of the floor, hold the ball just long enough to freeze the help defender, then either flow into a dribble handoff, attack the closeout or thread a bounce pass to a cutter before the defence can recover. That hesitation is part of his playmaking. He isn’t simply moving the ball; he’s creating a better passing window by forcing defenders to reveal their intentions first. The interesting thing is that his shooting changes how teams defend every action involving him. Centres can’t comfortably sit in deep drop coverage because he’s willing to pull up behind a screen or pop into open space, which opens driving lanes for guards and creates short-roll opportunities if opponents adjust. Around the basket he relies on footwork, pivots and touch rather than power, often using subtle fakes to get bigger defenders off balance. Defensively, he understands team concepts extremely well. He rotates early, communicates coverages and usually arrives in the correct help position, but there are limits when possessions become purely about foot speed. Quick guards can force him into uncomfortable recoveries in space, and explosive finishers may simply beat him to the rim before his positioning can matter. That’s the trade-off. To me, Olynyk is at his best as a connective frontcourt player in an offence built around ball movement, spacing and multiple decision-makers, where his passing and floor spacing become as valuable as his scoring. He isn’t a player you run the offence through, yet possessions often improve because he touched the ball somewhere in the middle of them. His game has long reminded me of Boris Diaw’s ability to keep an offence flowing through intelligent reads, while there are elements of Domantas Sabonis in the way he facilitates from the elbows and punishes defenders who overcommit to stopping the initial action, albeit with a much greater emphasis on perimeter shooting than interior play.

Sources:

NBADraft.net — Kelly Olynyk
NBA.com — Kelly Olynyk | Forward-Center | San Antonio Spurs
WalterFootball — 2013 NBA Draft Scouting Report: Kelly Olynyk
Bullets Forever — NBA Draft 2013 scouting report: Kelly Olynyk
SB Nation — NBA Draft 2013: Kelly Olynyk scouting report