Kelly Olynyk (PF/C, HOU): Week 15 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14-Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 50% of leagues

ANALYSIS: When Houston force-traded Victor Oladipo away for Miami, one of the pieces they got in return was big-man Kelly Olynyk. Prior to that trade, I had been preaching the Word of Kelly in these posts for a few weeks, as Olynyk kept flying a bit under the radar while starting nightly for the Heat. With an expiring deal attached to his name, it wasn't clear if Houston would keep or buy him out, but now everything points toward the former direction.

Olynyk started his first two games as a Rocket, and was part of the bench mob in the next two including Friday night against Boston. The truth is, his couple of starts coincided with Christian Wood's absence, and with Wood back (last two games) Kelly has ridden the pine. That hasn't affected Olynyk on a per-minute efficiency and performance basis, though, as he's putting up a way-above-average 1.16 FP/min (league average at 0.90) in his four games for the Rockets.

Kelly has been able to score 10+ points in those four matches, and his average line reads 16-5-3 with 2 stocks per game on top of that. The shooting is ludicrous at an unreasonable 61% from the floor even though he's launched 4 3PA a day. That, paired with a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe, has turned Olynyk into a 77% true shooting percentage guy, which is just bonkers. Whether he starts or not, I'll keep advising rostering Olynyk, and looking at his rostership (borderline 50%) most fantasy GMs seem to align with my thinking.

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