The Utah Jazz’s most coveted trade asset might just be an awkward center going into his mid-30s.
Jazz writer Ben Anderson of KSL Sports reported in a mailbag piece this week that Utah big man Kelly Olynyk has had the “most robust” market among teams calling the Jazz to see who is available for trade. The news comes with just over a month to go before the NBA trade deadline.
The 32-year-old Olynyk obviously isn’t Utah’s best overall asset. But with Jazz building blocks like Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, and Keyonte George figuring to be unavailable, Olynyk may easily be the most gettable target for opposing teams.
Olynyk has seen his minutes decrease this season as Utah prioritizes the development of their younger players. But he is still performing very well during his brief cameos, posting glowing 56/41/90 shooting splits overall.
The former lottery pick Olynyk, who will be a free agent after the year, is a famously sweet shooter who can get tough buckets at opportune times (no matter how graceless he makes it look). That is a skillset that many playoff teams would love to have off their bench, and we already know of one top contender who has logged interest in Olynyk.
