Miami Heat: 5 goals for Kelly Olynyk in 2017-18

5. Improve rebounding rate

While its been far from terrible, this is certainly an area that the Heat will be hoping for an improvement. Over his career, Olynyk has averaged 4.7 rebounds per game, with his career high of 5.2 per game coming in his rookie season. However, this shouldn’t come as a total surprise.

Dating back his to days at Gonzaga, Olynyk has never been renowned for his proficiency on the glass. The following is an excerpt of his Draft Express scouting report prior to entering the league:

"“….scouts will have significantly more pressing questions about his rebounding ability and defensive presence. Lacking the explosiveness to rebound outside of his area or provide a presence blocking shots from the weakside, Olynyk does not make a sizable contribution in either area relative to his peers, ranking last and fifth to last in blocks and defensive rebounds per-40 minutes pace adjusted respectively among the centers in our top-100.”"

Last season, Olynyk’s inconsistent contribution on the boards again came to the forefront. Over his 75 games, Olynyk had 23 games in which recorded seven or more rebounds, including three games of 10 or more boards. On the flip side, he played in 25 games that produced three or less rebounds.

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While he averaged just 15.9 minutes per game over these 25 games of inactivity, a return of 1.9 rebounds per game during that stretch is just not acceptable for a key frontcourt rotation player.

So although Olynyk doesn’t possess the natural athletic ability to enable him to be a beast on the boards, there is one noticable aspect of joining the Heat that may help him improve in this area.

For years, the Heat have been renowned for having possibly the strictest regimen in the league when it comes to physical conditioning. You only need to take a look at the success stories last season of Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington. While by no means were they out of shape upon landing in Miami, the Heat were able to transform each of them into the best shape of their careers, resulting in each of them having the best seasons of their careers.

So if it was good enough for this trio, there’s no reason why Olynyk and the Heat can’t repeat the same success.