What if the Phoenix Suns decide to extend Kelly Oubre Jr?

Playing for a big pay day on the tail end of a contract year, if the Phoenix Suns decided to extend Kelly Oubre Jr, there are questions to be asked on what happens next.

Kelly Oubre Jr., who was acquired in a trade from the Washington Wizards back in December, has played adequately well for the Phoenix Suns and provided a jolt of energy at various points which is what a young team needs.

He’s not exactly a veteran as he and Devin Booker are from the same draft class which is crazy to think about. However, in his young career he has seen a lot of scenarios and been involved in certain situations that players including Booker, have not experienced. So, having someone like Oubre around is important from that perspective.

With that said, the Suns may opt to keep him. So far through 34 games, Oubre has averaged 16 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.3 spg, and 1 bpg. By all accounts, those are solid numbers from a wing. He’s also been instrumental in some key wins against the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Milwaukee Bucks. These tidbits are some of the cases on wanting to keep him.

There are also cases on why they should not extend him though. One reason being is that despite the solid numbers on paper and signature moments against contenders, he doesn’t command that much of an impact where you pay big money to keep him.

As evidenced by his +/- per 100 possessions, he clocks in at around -6.4. His overall BPM checks in at -1.3. Throughout his career he has not shown much efficiency scoring. While his toughness does add value, there are also times he does things like this.

So, the Suns must ask themselves these questions; what is a fair number for Oubre should they want to keep him? What role do they see him fulfilling? What are the risks involved? What does this mean for guys like T.J. Warren, Josh Jackson, and Mikal Bridges?

There are a solid number of cases on both sides of the spectrum. With that said, the Suns have a number of decisions to make this offseason and figuring this one out will be a key one to monitor.