Oubre sees Warriors as ‘best fit for him,' is happy with trade

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Kelly Oubre Jr. officially became a member of the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

A few hours later, Oubre spoke to KRON's Jason Dumas in his first public comments since the trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"It was somewhere I saw a great fit for me," Oubre told Dumas on Sunday night. "Unfortunately, obviously, Klay [Thompson] went down and I don't wish that on anybody. I just can't wait for him to get healthy so we can have full force. But once the news hit and Golden State reached out and said they were interested, it was an opportunity that we felt was the best fit for me in this next season.

"It's been an amazing ride to go through it all. The game of basketball is amazing, and the business, it's a lot of emotion and a lot of energy, so I'm just happy to end up here."

Thompson suffered a season-ending torn right Achilles on Wednesday, hours before the Warriors drafted James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The news of Thompson's injury devastated the Warriors and their fan base, who were preparing for a return to the top of the NBA mountain with Thompson and Steph Curry back in the lineup.

But with Thompson out for the year, those hopes took a hit.

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General manager Bob Myers didn't waste any time pivoting in trying to fill part of the void left by Thompson. On Thursday, news of a trade was first reported by ESPN and later confirmed by NBC Sports Bay Area.

Oubre isn't Thompson, but he's a 24-year-old high-energy two-way player. The Warriors certainly will miss everything that Thompson brings to the table. He's a champion that can't be replaced. But under the circumstances, and with the assets Myers had at his disposal, Oubre is the best player he could have asked for to try and pick up some of the load.

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Just about everyone, including Oubre, believes he will fit in seamlessly with Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors. We'll find out in a few weeks when the 2020-21 NBA season opens on Dec. 22.

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