Kelly Oubre Jr. is set to become a free agent, and he’s not going back to the Golden State Warriors barring something unforeseen. But he will have multiple suitors. Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports has pointed to the Miami Heat, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs amongst the teams who are interested.
On the Spurs front, there’s more reporting attaching them to Oubre. Here’s what Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote:
Oubre will likely seek upward of $20 million in average annual salary on the open market, and there should be plenty of suitors,” “Several Spurs players appear eager to land Oubre in San Antonio, according to league sources. He could slide into DeMar DeRozan’s spot on the wing as a lower-usage, defensive piece who fits the young Spurs’ timeline. Tom Thibodeau is also said to have an interest in bringing Oubre, among other veteran players, to New York.”
Oubre’s 2020-21 season ended early due to a wrist injury, but it won’t impact his free agent market. Before the injury, he averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over 55 games. He shot 43.9 percent from the floor, with a fairly lackluster 31.6 percent rate from 3-point range. In 2019-20 with the Phoenix Suns, he averaged a career-best 18.7 points per game. Now, he’s headed for his fourth team in as many seasons next year. Heading into his age-26 season, teams look ready to buy into his ceiling.
Fischer mentioned Oubre as the Spurs’ younger replacement for DeMar DeRozan, who will also be a free agent and doesn’t really fit anymore. It’s probably just a matter of how the Spurs’ offer stacks up against the others Oubre will get.
