After big man Christian Wood officially signed with the Lakers on Wednesday, only two players on our list of 2023’s top 50 free agents remain unsigned: Kelly Oubre and Hamidou Diallo.
The 15th pick of the 2015 draft, Oubre has earned at least $12MM in each of the past four seasons. He averaged a career-high 20.3 points in 48 appearances with the Hornets last season while snatching 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
Oubre certainly has positive traits, with prototypical size for a guard/forward (6’7″ with a 7’2″ wingspan) and plus athleticism. However, he has struggled to score efficiently throughout his career, posting a subpar 53.4 true shooting percentage in 2022/23. He also averaged 17.1 shot attempts against 1.1 assists last season — an alarmingly poor ratio.
There haven’t been many rumors regarding potential suitors for Oubre, with the Cavaliers, Mavericks and Heat among the teams that have been mentioned, though all three can only make relatively modest financial offers.
There has been even less buzz for the No. 43 player on our list, former Pistons wing Diallo. Like Oubre, Diallo is a high-flying athlete who struggles at times with decision-making, and his role was cut back somewhat in 2022/23.
Diallo converted a career-high 57.3% from the field last season after basically abandoning the three-ball. He’s also a plus defender and rebounder who plays with a lot of energy, but his game is certainly unconventional for a wing.
Detroit renounced the 25-year-old’s cap hold to operate below the cap and use room, so a reunion is unlikely. It might be difficult for Diallo to match the $5.2MM he made each of the past two seasons at this point, given how much money has been spent and how few roster spots are available around the league.
Jaylen Nowell (Wolves), Kendrick Nunn (Wizards), Terence Davis (Kings) and Javonte Green (Bulls) are among the other free agents we considered for our top-50 list who remain unsigned.
Diallo is a problem. A wing needs to have a 3 point shot. If he doesn’t he has to play like a big man. Diallo does neither. His game is very 20th century. Oubre on the other hand shoots the 3 well enough. Just not well enough to be efficient. That said in the right situation he could thrive. That said the money train will pass him by this season. He needs to take a 3 to 5 million dollar deal for a year and play his way into a bigger deal next year. It would help if he started passing and rebounding. Clearly he needs to work on better decision making as a shooter. Seems to me he has tunnel vision when he gets the ball. He is more likely to turn the ball over than pass. He is excellent at stealing the ball but needs to learn to use his teammates if he is in trouble. That said he has all the tools if he can be coached. Hopefully this off-season will be the wake up call he needs.
How is Kelly Oubre still a free agent with a career 12.3 pts a game let alone the 20 a game last yr
Is he a head case or just ur typical bad teammate
Probably asking for too much money. I’d love for the Cavs to sign him, but idk what we would give up.
Cuz teams are smart now – Oubre is an inefficient volume shooter who can’t do anything else well, namely defend, rebound, make plays for others. Also, he is a very low energy guy, low effort level
The hornets suck this season and they wouldn’t allow guys like Oubre to have a career high in ppg with how inefficient the way he scores. That’s why they out of the playoffs again. You can’t have guys like Oubre to be the 3rd best player in the team.
His only skill is scoring. He has a grand total of one season where he wasn’t a negative on defense and one season he wasn’t a negative from an efficiency standpoint. He’s an outright liability as a playmaker, isn’t a good off-ball scorer (not only does he not move around well, but his corner 3pt% is lower than his career 3pt%, which is insane), and can’t make up for his shortcomings on defense by putting up stats. He’s very bad.
He is a low IQ payer that doesn’t give 100% effort every game. His offense is run down the court into the corner and wait for the ball come to him. On defense he just goes through the motions. The guy has so much talent but is just lazy to improve his game.
Kelly Oubre Jr. would look great on the Miami Heat. Heat Culture can do wonders for a guy like him.
He will not last a month there)
Oubre should sign with the Knicks
My guy Kendrick Nunn needs to be calling Pat Riley every day and asking for a shot at a league minimum deal. He had great success in their system. Why not see if he can’t be that same guy again. He was good enough to leave money on the table, and take a low-ball 2 year, $10 million deal from Lakers.
These guys haven’t been signed bc teams don’t have cap space. Just the Spurs. And you have guys that shouldn’t be vet mins forced to take a vet min deal. The system is F’d for the players. They need to get rid of this supermax bs and make more mid-level slots.
This is the system that LeBron and Chris Paul rammed into place. They wanted to make sure the “best” players were paid by far the “most”. The system basically eliminated the “Middle Class” in the NBA while pushing those $$$ to the SuperMax guys. Basically, those dollars will ultimately go to Dame Lillard, KAT, etc who will be making $60+ million while being on the downside of their career. Meanwhile, others will be forced the scraps leftover like league minimum deals and Mid-Level Exemption money.
You misspelled Adam Silver and the owners. Neither LeBron nor Chris Paul would ever be eligible for a supermax because you can only sign for one with the team that drafted you, and only if you stayed with that team.
Also, this is what the owners put in place to discourage guys like LeBron from teaming up with other stars. If they stay with their teams, they get more money. That was the entire point.
They created the 35% of the salary cap …. Which allows for the “best” players to make the “most” money. You can pull up DIRECT quotes from both LeBron and Chris Paul. This way their intention, and they pushed it through the Player’s Union.
Once your “top” guys get 35% of the cap. Nothing is left. Watch Boston after Tatum gets his 35%. This was pushed through by LeBron and Chris Paul. You can’t get extra year from SuperMax … but you can still get paid fat! Ask Anthony Davis.
Adam Silver doesn’t care. Owners get their 50%. The other 50% can get divided however they want. You don’t see the Players lobbying for certain owners to get paid more do you?
How is it working out keeping guys with there current team?? Dame Lillard???
Owners don’t get “paid” in the traditional sense, they run the businesses and get “paid” by having success in terms of attracting fans and sales. By having their “homegrown” superstars stay, they make more money. It also means they’re less likely to bolt to other teams just to win. Maybe they had quotes discussing it, but the Supermax (Designated Veteran Player Exception) was negotiated into the CBA in 2017 to stop players from pulling a Kevin Durant in Free Agency by allowing their *current* teams to offer more money than the FA market. It was *specifically* done for that because of the owners complaining about the complete lack of parity.
Also, do you mean Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent? That’s a different guy, lol.
Chris Paul, Union President…
and
“The NBA operates in a revenue-sharing system between the owners and the players, each taking nearly 50% of the basketball-related income”
You’re sorely missing the point, my man. Some times, when you’re so off on the facts, it’s time to tuck your tail and walk away…
Every player above deserve to be on a team. Silverwares new cba is no good. Rich get richer . We need Robin Hood to take all these millionaires Money and give to the poor
We need Robin Hood. Fire silver