Did Kelly Oubre Jr. Price Himself Out of the Market?
Confidence is a big factor in being a successful NBA player. Kelly Oubre Jr. is assuredly not short on confidence. But too much of it could work against you. Oubre had a good season with the Golden State Warriors, but his free agent demands just might be pricing him out of some decent deals.
Oubre camp gotta be in panic mode pic.twitter.com/1fZ7RmF3yv
— Win-now, develop-now (@OnBallSteph) August 4, 2021
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Oubre refused to meet with the Miami Heat because all they had to offer was the midlevel exception, far below his contract expectations.
Now his management are scrambling to find a suitable offer, with most teams running out of cash.
Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Oubre Jr asked for too much money in free agency without the resume to back it up, a league source just told me. The market has cooled significantly on both with most teams out of money.
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) August 4, 2021
Mavs ($15M) & Hornets ($14.5M) among teams w cap space.
I love everything Oubre gave this city & how he helped shift the culture.
— Zona (@ZonaHoops_) August 4, 2021
The problem with him (Warriors fans learned it quick) is that he thinks of himself as a legitimate building block for a team… he is not. He could be such a great role player if he actually bought into it. https://t.co/Al8TCrnINJ
The 25-year-old small forward averaged 15.4 PPG and 6 rebounds for the Warriors last season, but he's not a 3-point threat, hitting on only 31.6% of his attempts (career 32.6%); that was down 3 points a game overall, while all of his shooting percentages dropped over the previous year.
Oubre is coming off a 2-year, $30 million contract. His shooting woes may make it difficult for him to replicate that kind of earning power, unless some teams are feeling left out of the free agent process and feel they need to come up with an asset.
The San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks do have money to spend, and in fact, the Mavs have shown interest in him in the past. But how high these teams are willing to go remains to be seen.
Post a Comment