Kelly Olynyk is adapting to the new Heat system.

Heat’s newest 7-footer says new culture is fun

MIAMI — The incentive for the Miami Heat to roll out the welcome mat for Kelly Olynyk when training camp opened were two-fold.

Coach Erik Spoelstra summarized that Tuesday, saying, “I think he’s going to make our basketball team much more dynamic.” And: “Hated playing against him, so it’s better to have him on our side.”

The four-year, $50 million contract Olynyk signed in the offseason gave the Heat a versatile, play-making 7-footer who can shoot from the perimeter or work inside. Olynyk followed the same course in defecting from the rival Boston Celtics to Miami as Ray Allen did in 2012.

Unlike Allen, Olynyk did not join a defending championship team. But he is stepping in as the only newcomer in the prime nine-player rotation that includes holdovers Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Justise Winslow, Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington.

“Everybody’s been super-welcoming,” Olynyk said Tuesday after the Heat’s final practice in preparation for the seasonopener tonight at Orlando. “It’s a great group of guys. It’s been fun to try to integrate into the culture and just kind of see what this group can do.”

The group was already ingrained in the Heat way of doing things. Many of them had gone through the same process that Olynyk faced during this training camp.

Perhaps most difficult for newcomers is the Heat’s system of defense. It is complex and demanding, and it takes time and repetition to get used to it.

“I don’t know if its super-complex, it’s just different than you’re used to, different than your habits and your intuition when you come in,” Olynyk said. “Habitually you’ve been doing something over and over again the last four or five years one way, and you’ve just got to flip the switch in your brain and break those habits and do it a different way.”

Olynyk said he has received plenty of help and encouragement in the indoctrination from new teammates and coaches.

The former Gonzaga standout averaged 9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season for the Celtics, helping them reach the Eastern Conference finals. Playing mainly off the bench with the second unit during the exhibition season, Olynyk averaged 6.5 points and seven rebounds in 22.5 minutes.

But his skill set offers other possibilities. Starting center Hassan Whiteside said as soon as Olynyk signed he thought about the possibilities of them being on the floor together in a twin towers tandem.

“I think it’s going to work great,” Whiteside said. “Olynyk can really stretch the floor. He’s really very good out there shooting the three. So, it’s more space.”

JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES Kelly Olynyk, right, has had to get used to the Heat’s system on defense which is different from what he was part of in Boston.