This is EXACTLY What the Sixers Needed…

This is EXACTLY What the Sixers Needed…

it is decision day in the NBA as the deadline for all team and player options has just passed us And one particular swaggy and controversial member of the Sixers team elected that he will be sticking around for one more year That’s right Kelly Ubé Jr has agreed to return to the Philadelphia 76ers exercising his player option for roughly $8 million there I want to discuss for what this means to the Sixers from a roster building standpoint my feelings on UB sticking around for another season and everything else with this team Now we got a couple other players that I want to dive into as well Eric Gordon is a guy who did opt out but don’t let that be the end of Eric Gordon just yet as there is a way where they can kind of we scratch your back you scratch ours by getting that money off the the books give him a veterans minimum and that he can get end up getting a pay raise because the salary cap uh increases that I am going to dive into that in a separate video Couple other players that I do want to mention but do want to start with the topic here which is of course Philadelphia 76ers for Kelly Ubé Jr is picking up his $8.4 $.4 million player option for next season to return to the team sources tell ESPN Now to reflect on Kelly’s season last year averaged 15.1 points per game 6.1 rebounds 1.5 steals,.5 blocks shot 42 29.3 and 75.1 splits to put that in a little bit different format here that we are talking about Not the highest percentage shooter 35.1% on corner threes And that really is the story of Kelly Ubé Jr if he was a marginally better shooter I do think we’re looking at him very differently as a player but there is a reason that he has bounced around a little bit Now I want to say this about Kelly Ubred Jr I understand that he is one of the more polarizing players in the franchise and there’s quite a bit of the fan base that is ready to chase him out of town with pitchforks already I like Kelly and I’m happy he’s back on this team I give him a ton of respect for the way that he’s handled his business since he got here from an onc court standpoint Now is there the weird stuff the mysteriously hitting getting hit by a car the getting in a car accident oh there is the OB obviously you got to take the the bad with the good with Kelly and the interesting character that he is but just from an encore perspective I give him a ton of credit for just being a professional in the way that he was from start to finish last year that I don’t blame you if you guys were tuned out by this point But when it is game 79 of the season and everyone knows the deal that the Sixers aren’t even trying to win games at this point and UB is still playing his tail off that is something that I take note of there and that I do give him credit for specifically Now obviously this Sixers team as a whole needs to be constructed to win more basketball games than was the case last year And in an ideal world you’re speaking at Kelly Ubé Jr as a key part of this roster I think both these things can be true That’s during his tenure in Philadelphia the role that Kelly Ubé Jr has been asked to fill has been too large for him I also think he can be a contributor on a contending team a team with the intentions of winning in a way that he sort of has already Like let’s not forget that Knicks series how well that Kelly Uber Jr did play particularly guarding Jaylen Brunson and his defensive growth is something that I do think is incredibly notable particularly smaller guards he’s very effective at using his plus wingspan to just swallow them up be annoying poking proddding at the ball and then from an offensive standpoint yes the shooting it sucks there I wish it was better there’s probably no world in which he takes a stride forward to the to the level that it greatly helps this team and to reflect on his full stats overall here that we are talking about uh with Kelly that for his career is a 32.5% 3oint point shooter He shot 29.3% last year 31.1% in his first season with Philly there He shot as well as 35.2% over a season If we can get something close to that that’s a big leap And I am hopeful that if there is better spacing if Joel Embiid can return to the floor these are huge ifs that we’re relying on maybe he can hit at a slightly better rate But I do think that his biggest usage or what he will be asked to do on this Sixers team is operate in that dunker spot be active in trying to grab offensive rebounds be useful as a cutter and strap it up on the defensive end Now I did want to pull up this write up from Sixers Adam Aronson here the guy that has been absolutely crushing it on the beat so far this off season which I think brings up some pretty good points He writes “It is not necessarily an inevitability that Ubé returns to Philadelphia as he can be dealt immediately upon accepting his option and does have the most tradefriendly contract on the Sixers as things stand now But for a versatile defensive wing with secondary scoring chops who made major strides as a as a decision maker last season that $8.3 million is a valuable figure for the time being The Sixers can enter the 2526 season knowing that they have a quality two-way contributor on the wing making a reasonable amount of money And for a team that has experienced excessive turnover in recent years it can only help to keep someone with a real sense of familiarity around However the extent to which Ubé can be relied on as extremely inconsistent three-point shooter whose decision-making does remain suspect is up for debate And given the structure of the Sixer salary cap sheet the three max contracts on the books even someone making $8.3 million must be an absolute critical component of the rotation So a lot of good points here and the number one that I think it’s important to lead with we can trade Kelly Ubé and that is a key factor that as we’ve sort of pieced together the cap sheet and figured out what is the financial outlook for this Sixers team a lot of it was dependent on these decisions and to sort of reflect on what those specific options were that Kelly Ubé Jr had the player option Once again it was his choice Andre Drummond also opted in with a player option for $5 million there Lonnie Walker a team option No more Lonnie but him and Eric Gordon were ultimately declined on those uh and and uh Eric Gordon we kind of have a slightly different conversation I also want to mention Jared Butler as a guy who got his option decline We now know that those factors are to be true So with that in mind here when we get to the trade machine we’re trying to make things work and figure out how to build a roster I do think it’s important to note and remember that it takes money to you have to send money out to bring money in that you have to match salaries Those are the NBA rules that you do have to play by and Kelly Ubé could end up being helpful in that Now I don’t want to put the carton before the horse here that I do think that for the short term Kelly Rubé will be playing on day one for the Sixers team that I would be pretty surprised if there is movement this off season I think it’s more likely that we’re having this conversation as a trade chip leading up to the deadline But again I’m thankful that Kelly Jr is back and there is a bit of a chip on the shoulder way that he plays that I do think is valuable as well Let’s not forget this famous moment last year as we had a couple with Kelly of him and Embiid going right at each other on in the huddle on the sideline there Now to set the scene in how all this went down I forget who exactly turned the ball over on the play I don’t think it was either Embiid or Ubé but those were the two that were closest to the top of the key which in basketball terms means your job as this fast break starts is to stop ball be the guy that is cutting off the dribble there stopping the fast break slowing things down And of course that was UB and Embiid And in fairness both of them sort of dogged it here Now for UB specifically he was doing his best I honestly didn’t have an issue with Kelly on the play I had more of an issue with Joel and that sort of is very relevant to this whole conversation But Kelly sort of steered him into Joel and again that is good basketball sense there that you are steering him to the shot blocker that it is Joel Embiid’s job on this Sixers team to clean things up for guys attacking the rim here and that is what Kelly tried to do Ultimately Joel got Euro stepped on didn’t give a strong effort whatsoever himself that I did think it was a far more embarrassing effort level from Joel in this case than it was Kelly Then it is a timeout They walk over to the sideline and Joel for everyone to see sort of does an impression of Kelly running back in like slow motion at which point Kelly shoots up off the bench and gets right in his face Basically saying something along the lines of I’m the one busting it on an everyday basis You’re the dude who’s barely been here and you’re coming at me And I wholeheartedly agree with Kelly I love that he said it I love that he has that mentality And I think the fact that he could clean things up after the fact act like it’s a non-issue This all speaks well to who he is as a basketball player and how he’s important to this Sixers team I want guys who are going to be fiery on the sideline I want guys who want to compete who want it bad who aren’t going to take crap from a dude who of course is a better basketball player and the organization let’s kind of get away with everything I love that that happened there And that was another situation which just changed the way I looked at Kelly Ubé Jr a little bit So to Kelly specifically welcome back to Philadelphia It’s going to be an interesting season as competition for minutes could be fierce here that if Paul George is back to himself if Justin Edwards wants to take that leap that is a guy that if I was Kelly I’d be looking over my shoulders a little bit on VJ Edgecom will be interesting to see positionally where it all slots in that I don’t think minutes are going to be handed to Kelly on this team but a nice depth piece and a guy that I think will be far more important than a lot of us will ultimately expect here I get he’s not perfect He has his flaws We’re going to have to take the bad with the good But welcome back to Philadelphia Kelly Jr And I do think the Sixers are better for him making that decision there But if you guys disagree with me let it fly in the comments And I understand there are plenty of you guys that are not Kelly Ubé Jr guys And I understand it I personally was not for most of his career and even the start of his six years tenure here But he has been a guy that has grown on me the longer that he stuck around And I’m glad that that gets to continue there So make sure you are dropping those thoughts below Appreciate you guys for tuning in this video here if you have not already Make sure you’re hitting that subscribe button Drop a like on this video your thoughts below and I’ll be back talking with you next time right here on Sixers Digest

This is EXACTLY What the Sixers Needed…

Today marked the deadline for player and team options in the NBA and several players took things right down to the wire. Ultimately, Kelly Oubre Jr elected to remain in Philadelphia by exercising his player option with the Sixers. Sean Barnard breaks down what this means and why he is happy Kelly is sticking around.

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