Detroit Pistons How Kelly Olynyk is (and isn’t) an upgrade over Plumlee

Expectations were high for Detroit Pistons GM Troy Weaver heading into his second offseason with the team. By many accounts, Weaver was nearly perfect in his roster construction during his first offseason and regular season with the franchise. Barring the Bruce Brown trade, there are no real complaints to be levied at the second-year GM.

While Weaver was extremely active in the 2020 offseason, he almost completely overhauled the roster in the offseason alone, he was expected to be mostly laid back this offseason. Most analysts and beat writers expected the GM to simply come out of the offseason with drafted talent and reloading the roster by resigning expiring contracts.

On draft night, that speculation was immediately shot down as Weaver and the front office pulled the trigger on a trade that sent center Mason Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets. In the trade, Detroit swapped their 37th overall pick for Charlotte’s 57th.

Plumlee was a solid contributor for the Pistons during the 2020-21 season. The big man was the starting center in all 56 of his played games last season. The 31-year-old posted 10.4 points, 3.6 assists, and a career-high 9.3 rebounds per contest with Detroit.

Detroit Pistons: Mason Plumlee was a salary dump that cleared the way for Kelly Olynyk

After enjoying one of his best statistical seasons, Detroit traded Plumlee to Charlotte in a deal designed to dump his roughly $8 million annual salary. With that newly freed up cap flexibility, Detroit quickly signed 30-year-old big man Kelly Olynyk to a three-year $37 million contract.

Olynyk is set to replace Plumlee at the center spot for Detroit. The 6-11 center also enjoyed one of his best statistical seasons last year. However, Olynyk’s career-highs in points per game (13.5), assists per game (2.9), and rebounds per game (7.0) come mostly as a result of his exaggerated role with the Houston Rockets.

While the third year of Olynyk’s contract is a team option, the 30-year-old carries an average annual salary of $12.3 million. $4 million more than that of Plumlee.

Each center brings their own unique strengths to an NBA roster. Olynyk and Plumlee have both contributed for contending franchises in different ways. As the Detroit Pistons continue to develop their roster into a contender, Weaver has elected to pursue Olynyk as big man depth rather than Plumlee.

Here are two reasons why Olynyk will be an upgrade over Plumlee and one reason he may not.