The Miami Heat may be sending the “you up?” text to one of their old pals.
Matt Moore of Action Network reported this weekend that the Heat have shown interest in reuniting with veteran center Kelly Olynyk. Moore notes that Olynyk, currently with the Utah Jazz, is a highly-sought-after asset leaguewide ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
Olynyk, 32, is on a $12.2 million expiring contract. He has seen his minutes tumble to 20.2 minutes per game this season as the Jazz go young but is still connecting on a career-high 42.7 percent of his three-point attempts.
The former lottery pick Olynyk already played for the Heat from 2017-21, including as an admirable fill-in when Bam Adebayo was hurt in the 2020 NBA Finals. Miami has many of the same issues today with no consistent bigs to back up Adebayo. Thomas Bryant is a one-way offensive player who only plays well in certain matchups, and 23-year-old Orlando Robinson is still too raw for an everyday role. Meanwhile, Kevin Love continues to work best as a 4 than as an undersized 5.
Miami already traded for guard Terry Rozier last month but probably need to make another move after recently suffering a seven-game losing streak. Olynyk would still be a nice fit for them but also has interest from another one of his old teams.
