Kansas Jayhawks: Kelly Oubre NBA Draft Scouting Report

Kelly Oubre Jr. spent just one season with the Kansas Jayhawks before declaring for the 2015 NBA Draft. Oubre, and teammate Cliff Alexander both became “one-and-done” players for Bill Self and the Kansas program after this last season.

Oubre started off his college campaign rough, coming off of the bench sparingly. Eventually though, he broke into the starting lineup after a few games coming off of the pine.

He ended the season averaging 9.3 points per game, five rebounds per game, and just under one assist per game on 45% shooting from the field. His numbers don’t really show what some of the other top NBA prospects show (see Jahlil Okafor and D’Angelo Russel), so this forces the question to be asked whether or not he will be as good in the NBA as he was advertised to be coming out of high school.

Oubre had a decent season at best in his single season at Kansas, but he never really hit the ceiling that fans and experts thought he would eventually hit. In fact, many experts predicted that he would return to Kansas for at least one more season because of his down year.

Nonetheless, Oubre declared for the 2015 NBA Draft and there’s no going back now.

The bottom line for Kelly Oubre is that he will be a mid-to-early first round pick, and he will have to work to get playing time just like he did at Kansas in order to get onto the court.

According to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.com, “Offensively, Oubre’s most NBA-ready attribute is likely his jump-shot, as he has soft touch, natural scoring instincts, a nice follow through, and smooth mechanics when in rhythm.”

Givony is definitely right. Watching Oubre as he progressed through the season showed that he at times made scoring the basketball just too easy. His length (7-foot-2 wingspan) and smooth southpaw shooting stroke combine to make it look as if he could score at will. As Kansas fans know, however, he obviously didn’t and was very passive in Bill Self’s offense.

Not only was Oubre mostly passive on the offensive end, but he wasn’t as good as a defender as he should have been on the other end. Big, lengthy guys like Oubre should be on the opposing team’s best player, but it seemed as if Oubre didn’t have the desire or maybe even the quickness and ability to keep up with other of the NCAA elite players.

ESPN’s 2015 NBA Lottery Mock Draft Machine has Oubre going in the later picks of the lottery because of his potential. Personally, I don’t see it in him yet.

I thought Oubre needed another year will Self at Kansas to refine his game. He could be a good to great NBA player in the future, but I doubt it will be in the next two or three years.

The bottom line for Kelly Oubre is that he will be a mid-to-early first round pick, and he will have to work to get playing time just like he did at Kansas in order to get onto the court. A team that will take him will take him for his potential of the future, and not his talent in this point and time.

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