Golden State Warriors: Tracking Kelly Oubre’s improvements

Kelly Oubre began the season as arguably the worst starter in the NBA. This meant the young forward could only improve for the Golden State Warriors – and I’m glad to say he has.

Oubre had his fair share of struggles to start the season. Aside from quite literally not being able to hit an open shot, he was playing with tunnel vision and not really fitting in with the Warriors’ free-flowing offensive system. If things kept going this way, Oubre was going to play his way right out of the Bay Area.

But, as many hoped, Oubre is beginning to find his place with the team. Much of this is due to the fact that he’s actually shooting the ball at a good rate now, but other factors have contributed to his recent success.

Kelly Oubre Jr. had a rough start to the season, to say the least. But, the Golden State Warriors’ forward is beginning to show real improvement.

It didn’t all start with his 40 point outburst against Dallas. Though scoring a career-high shortly after the worst shooting slump of your career is encouraging – the path to redemption had already begun for Oubre at this point.

Oubre has been shooting the ball better since the New Year. In fact, since late January, Oubre is connecting on 40.7 percent of his 3-point attempts. Of course, remove the outlier game against Dallas and his efficiency dips to 34 percent (15-of-44). Still, that’s significantly better than the below 30 percent mark he was at before. His season accuracy remains well below league average but he’s trending in the right direction.

One thing that’s been consistent, however, is his defense. He doesn’t take any nights off as a defender and has taken the challenge of guarding whoever the team asks. This will continue to keep him in the rotation even if his 3-point percentage dips again.

The most impressive thing we’ve seen from Oubre is his decision-making lately. It still isn’t up to par, but we’ve seen flashes of actual basketball instincts taking over. He’s no longer a black hole when the ball is passed to him. Though he posts one of the league’s worst assist/turnover ratios, he’s slowly beginning to snap the ball to open teammates even if it means not taking a single dribble in the possession. Playmaking is an area he has room to improve in. It’s a good sign that he’s taking baby steps towards being a willing passer and we hope he continues making strides in this department.

Oubre isn’t everything the Warriors need him to be. And, he may never reach his full potential as a 3-and-D threat. Even so, he’s trending upwards and we have to feel excited about his trajectory. Playing in a winning culture is finally having an impact on his performance.