3 Kelly Oubre-involved trade options the Phoenix Suns should consider
By Kenny Glenn
Many fans might not like the idea of it, but the Phoenix Suns should consider trading the popular Kelly Oubre. Here are some options.
The pre-bubble Phoenix Suns were ranked 15th in offense and 22nd in defense. After eight undefeated games in the bubble, the Suns’ season average jumped up to 10th in offense and 20th in defense.
Again, the Suns went 8-0 without Kelly Oubre, who will become a free agent at the end of next season. The bubble play of Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and the rest of the squad shows us that the time to get something for Oubre should be now.
Based on last July’s NBA free agency, Oubre’s next contract will pay him between $20 to $22 million per season for four years. Next season Cam and Mikal will make $8.6 million combined! This 10-year long rebuilding “plan” is nearing its end thanks to James Jones, and it now begs the question, while having Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges, should the Suns spend $80+ million (over 4 years) for Oubre or should they improve the team in other areas of need by trading him?
Kelly Oubre is not all of a sudden expendable. light. Counterpoint
Kelly Oubre is a solid player, but he has deficiencies that hurt the team. Most notably, he’s not as great of a defensive player as advertised.
In the NBA plus/minus category defensively, Oubre ranks 95th at his position, whereas Bridges comes in at 14th.
On offense, Oubre has tunnel vision on his contested drives or 3-point shots and he doesn’t kick it to an open player which goes against Coach Monty Williams’ system.
Once decisions are made on the Suns’ roster, I project the Suns will have at least $26 million in cap space to fill five spots. If you look at the above season stats, you will see that the greatest area of need right now for the Suns is a 3-and-D power forward, and another shooter in the backcourt to pair with Devin Booker.
There are only a few players that make trading Kelly Oubre a good option. If those trades don’t happen, look for the Suns to wait until the trade deadline to move him and still get something in return.
So what options do the Phoenix Suns have? I feel they have three: