Kelly Oubre Jr. has played well since coming to Phoenix, last season he was the Suns’ second-leading scorer at 18.7 points per game. He fills an important wing role between Devin Booker up top and Deandre Ayton in the paint.
He’s also entering the last year of his current contract at $14.4 million, and he will get a big raise after that. With Booker already having gotten a max contract and Ayton up for one in a couple of years — plus Ricky Rubio making $34.8 million over the next two seasons — Oubre may be too expensive for Phoenix to keep. Which has led to a lot of trade rumors.
Enter the Golden State Warriors, who have interest in Oubre, something ESPN’s Nick Friedell talked about on “The Jump” (hat tip Bleacher Report).
The Warriors need more wings, particularly ones who can defend and hit a three. They have Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins who will start, then Eric Paschall off the bench, but after that things drop off quickly.
Golden State has a $17 million trade exception created when Iguodala was traded to Memphis, meaning Golden State could trade for Oubre and just send back a pick (they have the No. 2 pick in the draft). There would be no need to match salaries.
Why would Phoenix do it is the question. The Suns want to make a playoff push this season — their 8-0 bubble run gave them confidence — and Oubre would be a big part of that. Behind Oubre is Mikal Bridges and maybe Cameron Johnson, but those are considerable drop-offs from what Oubre brings. The Warriors don’t have a wing player to trade back, even the No. 2 pick nets a player who needs development and time to contribute.
Which is to say, Golden State may want to do this but would Phoenix? It’s something to watch as we head into trades around the 2020 NBA Draft on Nov. 18, but don’t bet on this rumor becoming a reality.