The San Antonio Spurs are adding another big man to their roster, acquiring Kelly Olynyk from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Olynyk, 34, was in Washington for roughly two weeks after being part of the CJ McCollum-Jordan Poole swap between the Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans in late June. The well-traveled big man split last season between the Toronto Raptors and the Pelicans, averaging 8.7 points and shooting a career-best 41.8% from 3.
Olynyk is the Spurs’ second big man addition of this offseason alongside Luke Kornet, who comes in from the Boston Celtics after signing a four-year, $41 million deal. The two offer very different skill sets, as Kornet is a lanky, 7-foot-2 center who served as a rim protector and finisher in Boston while Olynyk is more of a skilled stretch big. They’ll provide San Antonio with a variety of frontcourt looks behind (or potentially alongside, in Olynyk’s case) star center Victor Wembanyama.
New Spurs center Luke Kornet has a hilarious reason for choosing No. 7 jersey, and it honors Tim Duncan
Carter Bahns
The Wizards, meanwhile, continue scooping up young players who would likely struggle to find minutes on win-now teams. Branham, the No. 20 pick in 2022, was a part of the Spurs’ rotation each of his first two seasons but averaged just 5.0 points and 9.1 minutes in 47 games for the Spurs last season. He did shoot 40.5% from 3 — a big improvement, albeit on a very small sample size.
Wesley, taken five picks after Branham in 2022, also played a very limited role for San Antonio last season, averaging just 11.8 minutes and 3.7 points.
Washington now has 11 players who were picked in the first round of the last four drafts. That includes their 2025 first-round selections Tre Johnson (No. 6 overall) and Will Riley (No. 21 overall) and five 2024 first-round picks, led by Alex Sarr.
The Wizards have acquired six of those 11 players — their two selections this year, Dillon Jones (2024), Cam Whitmore (2023) and the two players in this deal — this offseason alone. Washington is currently two players over the roster limit, so more moves are coming.
The 2026 second-round pick is the least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, per Charania.
