Kelly Oubre Jr. is back in the Philadelphia 76ers’ starting lineup, and Nick Nurse’s staff made the move with three games left in the season. Dominick Barlow was the player removed when Oubre returned to the first five, a decision made while the team was fully healthy except for Cameron Payne.
The timing matters because the 76ers are still in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, even as another roster shuffle is waiting this summer. Ten of Philadelphia’s 18 players, including two-way guys, are set to hit free agency, which is why Oubre has been described as the one player the team cannot afford to lose.
That is not just because of what he has done in one role. Nurse has used Oubre as a Swiss Army knife since he arrived in Philadelphia, and he has become a more than serviceable defender while filling whatever gap the roster needed. This season, in his 11th year as a professional, he has brought steady production as well, averaging 14.1 points, five rebounds and 1.2 steals per game with three games left on the schedule.
He has also shot a career-best 36.4 percent from three-point range, a number that helps explain why his value has held up even as the Sixers have juggled lineups. Oubre had spent some time coming off the bench before returning to the starters, but the latest move suggests Philadelphia sees him as more than a temporary fit.
The harder question now is whether the Sixers can keep that fit intact. With so many players heading toward free agency, Oubre’s next contract may end up mattering as much as his current minutes, and the team’s decision this spring looks like a clear sign of how it views him going into the summer.
