Adding Kelly Oubre Jr. Is A Misfire For Bob Myers And Golden State
Kelly Oubre Jr. can be a fit for the Warriors. He will have to if the team wants to win the NBA Championship. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. This could seriously backfire in the face of General Manager, Bob Myers.
In fact, it probably will.
Oubre is the replacement for Klay Thompson, who suffered a season-ending leg injury on draft night. There is a lot of reason for optimism by getting Oubre. If anything, he’s another scorer for the Warriors. However, he’s not the same type of scorer Klay is. Because of this, the Warriors need to adjust their style of play.
We know how proficient Klay is at the 3-point stripe. Oubre doesn’t shoot close to the same amount of shots from three as Thompson. A new free agent signing Kent Bazemore is a better comp for Thompson. However, it’ll be Oubre who will be expected to carry the additional scoring load as Klay’s direct replacement.
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Big mistake.
Oubre takes 50 percent of his shots 0-10 feet from the basket. Compare that to Klay who takes .211 of his shots 0-10 feet from the basket. Oubre is a different type of scorer. This won’t be the Splash Brothers pairing we are used to seeing with Steph and Klay. That might come as a disappointment to Warriors fans who are expecting Oubre to come in and be Klay 2.0.
Another issue the Warriors face is the pairing of Oubre and Wiggins in the starting lineup. As mentioned before, Oubre shoots .500 of shots 0-10 feet from the basket. Wiggins takes 44 percent from the same distance. When it comes to 3-pointers, Oubre takes a three 35.2 percent of his shots attempts. Meanwhile, Wiggins shoots a three 31.4 percent of the time. Both fail in comparison to Klay, who shoots 42.7 percent of shots from 3.
The Warriors have long been known as a three-point shooting team. Klay and Steph live at the 3-point line. How will the dynamic change with two of your three best scorers being primarily close-range shooters? If anything, Curry will take a lot more three-point shots to make up for the missed attempts from Klay. It won’t be the same dynamic, though.
Even if this pairing of Wiggins and Oubre succeeds, it’s such a different style of offense. Bringing Bazemore into the equation, it makes more sense to start him and bring Wiggins or Oubre off the bench. That would give the Warriors a more familiar type of starting offense.
Obtaining Oubre and using him as Klay’s direct replacement doesn’t fit the Golden State style of play. Again, it makes more sense to play Bazemore as a starter with Curry and Wiggins, just a better fit. Oubre is simply a name so the Warriors can excite the NBA fanbase. It’s okay to question Bob Myers on this move.
Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
