Washington Wizards’ Kelly Oubre Will Have Chance To Contribute Next Season

By Jackson Eargle | May 11, 2016

Mar 12, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

The Washington Wizards hired Scott Brooks for player development and Kelly Oubre is going to be a primary focus.

It’s been a very long time since first round draft picks didn’t generate much excitement for the Washington Wizards fan base.

Prior to last year, the Wizards had obtained numerous high first round picks which resulted in John Wall, Jan Vesely, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter. While one of those players quickly washed out of the league, three of them all possessed a ton of upside, creating reasons to be excited about the team’s future.

Last year the Wizards made the playoff and possessed a late first round pick. In a somewhat weak draft, the Wizards were expected to select a project-type big man. Instead, the Wizards moved up to select Kelly Oubre Jr, acquiring him in a three-way trade that included the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.

Initially, as previously mentioned, there wasn’t a ton of excitement around Oubre.

The young wing player out of Kansas wasn’t expected to play much, and given where he was drafted, there was still a ton of question marks surrounding his game and talent.

However, after an outstanding showing in the NBA Summer League, Oubre quickly became a fan-favorite in Washington.

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Oubre’s youth, potential and willingness to get better suddenly made him a part of Washington’s already impressive core of young players.

Through training camp, Oubre fought for respect against veteran players and they went out of their way to praise his work ethic.

Of course, the fans went on to be disappointed with the lack of playing time Oubre received under coach Randy Wittman in his first season.

At 6’7″, the forward already has crazy athleticism and a silky shot that has plenty of room to get better. He’s a slasher who can really rebound the ball for his position and resembles another young Wizards player, Otto Porter.

Like Porter, Oubre went from being the star in college to being more of a bench player in Washington during his rookie season.

This is not a knock on Oubre or Porter’s playing abilities, but more so a reason why Wittman ultimately lost his job.

In the limited time we did see Kelly Oubre, the Wizards got to see flashes of what he could become in the near future.

Oubre only averaged 10.7 minutes per game and played in 63 games, starting in nine of those games, but put up nice numbers. He averaged 12.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and shot 42% per 36 minutes.

The rebounding number is what sticks out to me in Oubre’s stat line. If he can stretch his shot out and improve his 31% three-point percentage, Oubre could be severely dangerous.

He could bring tremendous energy off the bench next year for Scott Brooks and give John Wall another strong scoring option.

Both Wall and Beal were completely different players coming out of college, and the guards were asked to play different roles while entering the league.

Wall was picked first overall and he was destined to be the Washington Wizards star from the beginning. Beal was drafted third overall in 2012 after Washington went 20-46 in the 2011 lockout season. He was the best player on the board and the Wizards needed him right away, especially since Wall missed most of Beal’s rookie season.

Porter was drafted third overall in the 2013 draft and only played in 37 games and didn’t start a single one. He did not look like a third overall pick, but over the past three years Porter has gotten better in almost every statistical category. He is now an everyday starter and a solid role player for the Wizards.

Oubre’s growth will probably be similar to Porter’s, but the 20-year-old wing has a lot more upside.

Now that Wittman is gone, Scott Brooks and the rest of the new coaching staff will focus on developing Oubre and the rest of the young players – something Wittman and Co. failed to do.

Brooks has said to be very high on Oubre, according to Wizard’s owner Ted Leonsis.

Leonsis said in an interview with the Washington Post, “I was gratified when we were interviewing Scott and he was very, very high on Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre.” He went on to say that Brooks was “very, very high on Kelly” and “knew a lot about Kelly.”

Next: Wall Still Focus of Wizards Future

Much like Porter did this past season, Oubre could end up getting a legitimate chance to make an impact on the Washington Wizards next season. The head coach seems to firmly believe in his abilities and Oubre has the work ethic that’s necessary to take that next step towards contribution.

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