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NEW YORK — On March 25, 2021, Kelly Olynyk was in the clear. The NBA trade deadline had come and gone and he was still a member of the Miami Heat.
Or so he thought.
A few minutes after the 3 p.m. deadline had passed, he got a text from a friend.
"Houston?" it read.
His response: "What happened in Houston?"
That's how Olynyk found out he had been traded to the Rockets in a deal that came right at the deadline.
"I thought it was over!" Olynyk told KSL.com. "I guess if you're on the call before you can complete it. Then my phone was like ding, ding, ding."
Olynyk has been traded twice in his 11-year NBA career —the deal to Houston and moving to Utah just before last season — and he's gotten pretty used to hearing rumors swirling this time of year. It started when he was a young big man and was getting attached to Rajon Rando trades early in his career, and it's still happening now over a decade later.
Olynyk has garnered interest around the league as rival NBA front offices try to get a feel for what the Jazz will do leading up to the trade deadline on Feb. 8. But even after a decade of hearing the rumors, it's still a bit strange.
"It's something a lot of people outside of the sports world can't relate to; they don't really understand it," he said.
In one moment a player can be in Miami and the next they're headed to Houston. They can be preparing for a season in Detroit and then be on a plane to Utah. And most of the time they have very little say in whether it happens or not.
"If you've got a family and kids or this or that and you set up, that's a big impact," Olynyk said. "You're dealt a completely different hand, and you have to go make the most of it."
It's family or friends who are often quick to ask about the rumors. Olynyk's wife, understandably, is usually the one to bring them to his attention first.
"She'll send me stuff, and I'm like, 'I have no clue! If I did I would tell you!'" Olynyk laughed. "But, yeah, speculation is fun sometimes, but it's also like this is hitting too close to home."
Olynyk said he can sometimes get a sense of what is going to happen around a deadline just due to how the team is tracking.
A disappointing season usually ends in more moves, or at least different kinds of ones, but sometimes he is taken completely aback. For instance, like when he was pulled into an office in Detroit a week before training camp last season and was told he was off to Utah.
"Nowadays, with all social media you never really know what's happening," Olynyk said. "There's so much stuff out there, but sometimes there are the guys who've got some credible sources who throw some stuff out there and you're like, 'Oooh … .'"
Olynyk isn't the only Jazz player who has seen their name pop up in trade speculation this season.
Jordan Clarkson has been a common name thrown out, too. Talen Horton-Tucker, John Collins, and Collin Sexton, among others, have also had their names pop up in rumors over the last month. Lauri Markkanen is coveted around the league, but he's practically untouchable at this point.
"Your heart kind of drops, but then you move on," Collins said.
"It always happens. It's just normal," Clarkson added.
Clarkson has been most commonly linked to the New York Knicks, the team the Jazz will play Tuesday to finish off a six-game road trip. While it can be distracting for some players, Clarkson said he's never really felt that.
"I love to hoop, so just coming out here hooping is a blessing every day," he said. "So I won't really be paying too much attention to it. If I gotta move, I'll get a call, but right now, I'm good."
Right now … but there's still a week and a half until the deadline (plus a few minutes after that).
