The LA Clippers will be over the cap regardless of whether they are able to bring Kawhi Leonard and Reggie Jackson back or not.
They really don’t have the money to go around and throw stacks at new free agents. And that’s okay, as they will have one of the best rosters in the league if they simply run it back next year.
It’s important to be smart about free agency this summer, and there are some targets that could possibly be seen as tempting, yet shouldn’t even be on their radar.
No. 3 free agent the LA Clippers need to stay away from: Kelly Oubre Jr.
Kelly Oubre Jr. is a bit of an overrated player, and shouldn’t be looked at very seriously for the LA Clippers.
The truth is, what exactly has Oubre done in this league that’s so special? He was a bench player for the first four years of his career and shot 32.1% from three.
When he was traded to Phoenix, there was buzz around ‘The Valley’ that he was changing the culture. And I think he did change the culture a little bit, but how much?
The team didn’t improve much with him on the roster, other than one nice stretch right when he got there, and the Suns went 8-0 in the NBA bubble without him in 2020. They also looked pretty incredible without him this year of course.
Oubre is fun to watch; that’s for sure. But he didn’t earn his $15 million from the Warriors this year. He wants to be a starting three in this league, but only shot 31.6% from deep this year.
He scored just 15.4 points per game, and has averaged just 11.5 points per contest in his career. The Clippers do like athletic forwards who can take on a variety of assignments on defense, but Oubre just hasn’t been productive enough to sign him to a big contract. And he’ll likely expect to continue to get paid well.