Kelly Oubre Jr. has quickly won over Steph Curry.
The two haven't been teammates for long, practicing with one another and the rest of the team just three times so far since the Warriors acquired Oubre in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder last month. In those three sessions, Curry said Oubre has stood out.
"I think he's hungry, man," Curry told 95.7 The Game's "Damon, Ratto & Kolsky" on Wednesday. "Just in terms of what's been his experience the last two years in Phoenix and being bounced around in trades over this offseason. ... Obviously it's his birthday today. He's still a young, fresh 25.
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"He's got amazing energy, amazing athleticism and his skill set with the ball in his hands will surprise a lot of people as a playmaker. And I think defensively ... he's ready to kind of wreak havoc with [Andrew Wiggins] and with [Draymond Green] and [James Wiseman] and [Kevon Looney] and the like."
The Warriors will become the third team Oubre has played for over the last three seasons. The Washington Wizards traded the wing to the Phoenix Suns during the 2018-19 season, and Oubre had a career year in Phoenix last season. Traded to the Thunder in the Chris Paul deal over the offseason, Oubre was on Oklahoma City's roster for less than a week before being traded to Golden State.
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Now settling in with the Warriors, Oubre has a chance to play a big role in Golden State's playoff pursuit this season. Oubre will be relied upon in place of Klay Thompson after the five-time All-Star tore his Achilles last month, and although neither he nor anyone else on the Warriors' roster can fully replace Thompson, Oubre's in an environment that Curry already believes is bringing the best out of him.
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"For him just to be in a position where he can prove a lot of people wrong, and he can be part of our culture and how we do things here, I'm excited for him," Curry continued. "It's a big learning curve and that's something here in training camp where we're learning schemes, we're learning chemistry and all that type of stuff, he's fully committed and it's been awesome to kind of harness that energy in the right direction."