Getty Kelly Oubre Jr. guards Tobias Harris on November 23, 2022
Kelly Oubre Jr. decided to leave the Golden State Warriors following the 2020-21 season, opting for free agency rather than the chance to come back and compete for a starting role on what became a title-winning team.
Now, Oubre could be on the move again.
Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype identified Oubre as a likely trade candidate at the upcoming deadline. The wing is in the final months of his contract with the Charlotte Hornets, a team that could be looking to shed some veteran players and accumulate assets for a rebuild.
Kelly Oubre on Trade Block as Hornets Become ‘Sellers’
Gozlan predicted that the Hornets could be active through the trade season as they have some veteran players that could be attractive to contending teams. The 10-29 Hornets are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and would need a dramatic turnaround to even jump in contention for the play-in tournament.
“I’m keeping an eye on the Hornets,” Gozlan noted. “I think they’re going to be sellers. They’ll probably be looking to move some of their veteran guys, like Mason Plumlee and Kelly Oubre, on expiring contracts.”
Oubre is averaging a career-best 20.2 points per game this season, along with 5.1 rebounds per game.
Kelly Oubre Jr. will undergo surgery on a torn ligament in his left hand and miss 4-to-6 weeks, per @ShamsCharania
His trade value could be at risk, however, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Twitter that he will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left and will miss the next four to six weeks. Charania noted that Oubre “suffered the injury in the first week of the season and has been playing through the pain on his shooting hand.”
Kelly Oubre Felt Warriors ‘Put Him in a Box’
The Warriors said they wanted to keep Oubre following the conclusion of his lone season with the team, with general manager Bob Myers making it clear that they passed on potential trades at that season’s deadline even though there was some “high-level” interest in him.
At the time, Myers said he hoped the team could come to a deal on a new contract.
“[Oubre has] done a good job of just playing basketball,” Myers said in March of that year, via ESPN. “And those are conversations we’ll have. I can’t, per the rules, promise anything, but we like Kelly and we’d love to be able to see him in our future plans, but that’s four or five, six months away, and we’ll see what happens with us and obviously it takes two. So that decision will be made down the line.”
But Oubre ended up opting to leave in free agency, saying he felt constrained with the Warriors. After seeing his average steadily increase over the first six seasons of his career, Oubre had a dip in his season with the Warriors, falling from 18.7 points per game the previous season to 15.4 points per game with the Warriors.
“I want to continue to show all the things I’m capable of and not be put in a box,” Oubre said on the HoopsHype podcast. “I felt like the universe was trying to put me in a box last year. It’s something that always clashes because it’s a big deal whenever I’m trying to be put in a box, because I can’t be put in a box.
“I’m going to continue to show you and prove to you why you shouldn’t put me in a box. I think that just fueled me to work harder this summer and to come back next year and be a better all-around player.”