Warriors Want Kelly Oubre Jr. Back and the Small Forward Reportedly Also Wants To Be Back

Kelly Oubre, Jr. is coming off a season with his new team, the Golden State Warriors, where he put up 15.4 points a game, averaged six boards, and shot 43.9% from the field.

Out of the 55 games he played in, he started in 50.

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Now, those are good numbers for a NBA starter but Oubre was also used to averaging a bit more minutes with his former team, the Phoenix Suns. With that team in the Valley last season, he also started 55 games (out of 56 games he played in) and but also averaged more minutes per game. With the Warriors, he averaged 30.7 minutes a game. With the Suns last season, he was averaging 34.5 minutes a game.

The small forward’s points-and-rebounds-per-game was also more at 18.7 and 6.4.

Could the minutes thing be a factor in this report from The HoopsHype Podcast with Michael Scotto, in particular looking ahead to next season?

Scotto reports in the podcast that: “Recently, Steve Kerr touched on Kelly Oubre saying that Klay Thompson was going to start for them when he gets back next year, and there was a question of whether Kelly would be interested in coming off the bench, and only he can answer that. Both sides will weigh their options.”

“It’d be great to have Kelly back, he’s really, really talented,” Kerr said in a press conference (as shared by LetsGoWarriors) . “Obviously it was tricky at times…finding the exact, right role, but it was tricky for me, honestly, with the entire roster to put the pieces together this year, you guys saw that, it was a struggle. So, he’s a free agent, he’s going to have to decide what he wants and we will have that discussion.”

“I thought that over the last few games there was some positive, as far as impacting winning…I think he helps us but I can’t predict what the market will be…he did make it clear he’d like to be here, he did say that…organizationally, we didn’t look at it as much as starting or not, I don’t mind a player that says he wants to start, I think that’s fine if you were on our team and you said i want to start and you didn’t …say great, you should. So I think we can work that out…those conversations will come two months from now. But there was no we don’t want you here I don’t want to be here type conversations going on.”

Bob Myers, Warriors GM during a press conference (as shared by LetsGoWarriors)

It’s clear the Warriors want Oubre, Jr. back and that he also wants to be back with the team. The decision will come down to the best fit, what each side wants and is looking for, and if they can agree on the contract.

Scotto reported: “…the sense I’ve gotten from a league source is that Oubre and his camp think they can get over $20 million (annually), and he ideally wants a long-term deal. The two-year, $30 million deal that he did when he was with the Suns is not something he’s looking to do.”

If he’s able to ink a deal with that kind of money, it’d put Oubre Jr. around the top 50 highest-paid NBA players.

You always root for a player or anyone in any industry, really, to fight for their worth, to get theirs. Can’t at all be mad at a guy for that, especially if it means being able to take care of their family.

“I don’t get the sense that while Golden State is open to keeping him, to pay him $20 million or more, I don’t get the sense that’s something they want to do. In that case, you could look at them being open to a sign-and-trade scenario. From what I’ve been told, he was good in the locker room for the Warriors and they had no issues with him there. Would they be open to a return? Yes, for the right price, though. That’s going to be the key.”

Michael Scotto, The HoopsHype Podcast with Michael Scotto

So, we’ll see if the Warriors will make a deal or another team scoops in and gets a small forward to add to their squad.