Last Week: Beat Utah Jazz 131-119, Lost to Los Angeles Lakers 128-97, Beat Houston Rockets 108-94, Beat Memphis Grizzlies 116-103, Lost to Memphis Grizzlies 111-103
This Week: 3/23 vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 3/25 at Sacramento Kings, 3/26 vs. Atlanta Hawks
Kelly Oubre Jr.
After a rocky start to the season, Kelly Oubre Jr. has been better of late for the Golden State Warriors. Since Feb. 1 Oubre has been averaging 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game on shooting splits of .483/.369/.672. So why would the Warriors move on from Oubre as he continues to figure things out?
The cost of keeping him is prohibitive, especially as he is set to be a free agent in a few short months. The Warriors are going to be on the back end of the Western Conference playoffs if everything breaks right. With Stephen Curry dealing with an injury and Eric Paschall and James Wiseman missing time, wins are going to be increasingly tough to come by.
Fans do not want to hear billionaire owners complain about steep luxury tax bills but the Warrior showed they were willing to pay it this season if they were going to be contending. The moment Klay Thompson got injured that became nearly impossible, so cutting that bill by moving on from a player you are almost certainly unable to re-sign is a smart business decision if nothing else. Trending towards potentially two lottery picks this year makes that a little more palatable.