The Phoenix Suns need Kelly Oubre to play again this season for two reasons

Major Reason Number One

Let us work from the assumption that the Phoenix Suns are not  going to make the playoffs this season (for the tenth year in-a-row – Thanks, Robert Sarver).  The franchise and the fanbase alike are still going to want to look for positives to take into next season that can be carried over throughout the summer.

Oubre making his return, if even for the last game, would be a huge mental boost for all involved as the then still playoff-less team heads into another long offseason.

Rather than five months of wondering how his recovery was going, with the best information anyone could muster up hope from being nothing more than the occasional interview with somebody noting that Oubre’s knee looks good in light workouts, with a game played  in April, we would have all seen  that knee hold up and perform well, giving us not just hope but piece of mind heading into the summer of 2020.

Add on top of that Deandre Ayton putting up even better numbers over his final 23 games, Devin Booker continuing to play at his normal All-Star level, and hopefully Cam Johnson taking a step forward to end the year, as well as no other player going down with another long-term injury (and at least  having Frank Kaminsky play again as well), and a healthy team will breed healthy optimism that James Jones can build off of with a solid summer of moves.