Engineering the Leap: An NBA Supertrainer's Plan for DC's Prized Sophomore

One after another, the Washington Wizards marched in for their exit interviews with owner Ted Leonsis and general manager Ernie Grunfeld. After a disappointing 2015-16 campaign that ended with a .500 record, no playoff appearance and head coach Randy Wittman’s ouster, there was bound to be some bickering and grumbling about what went wrong and why.

One point on which every player could agree: Kelly Oubre Jr. should’ve played more.

“No matter what it was, he was going 100 miles per hour and doing it 100 percent, and you couldn’t be mad at it,” one of those Wizards, Bradley Beal, told Bleacher Report. “With where we were in our season, heck, we probably should’ve just thrown him out there and let him continue to play his way through it.”

Out of the five-month-long regular season, Oubre spent only one in Wittman’s regular rotation. Over a 19-game stretch between mid-December and mid-January—during which he started in place of the injured Otto Porter Jr. nine times—the New Orleans native played 19.3 minutes a night, drained 43.9 percent of his threes and proved to be a pest on defense.

He logged fewer than five minutes in 41 other games, 19 of which he didn’t play in at all.

Oubre had already been humbled by a draft-day drop to 15th, where the Atlanta Hawks picked and promptly traded him to Washington. The experience of spending so much of his rookie campaign tethered to the bench silenced his ego to a hush but also lent a fresh perspective on the NBA career ahead of him.

“It helped me to know how to work,” Oubre explained, “because the games that I didn’t play, I was in the gym after the game. I didn’t get my game in, so I’ve got to go work out. It taught me how to go hard at everything and just how to get better, man.

“It was a blessing in disguise, honestly.”

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Oubre wasted little time before diving headfirst into a focused summer. After a week of rest and recovery to start the offseason, he moved out to Southern California to prepare for Year 2 in earnest.

With Scott Brooks taking over, the Wizards want Oubre to serve as a prototypical three-and-D wing. His task: to lock up his marks on one end and feed off the efforts of John Wall and Beal on the other.

“I know I’m not going to be a [No.] 1 or 2 key guy, but I will definitely be incorporated, get a lot of touches,” Oubre said this summer.

Oubre’s main trainer Drew Hanlen—who counsels NBA players such as Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, Bradley Beal and Dwight Howard—saw potential for much more.

“We’re trying to follow the improvement pattern that Kawhi Leonard had coming into the league as kind of a spotty role player into the superstar that he’s become today as a two-way force,” Hanlen said.

Either way, Oubre has to sharpen his jumper, his finishes at the rim and his decision-making off the dribble; he logged nearly three times as many turnovers (34) as assists (13) during his rookie season.

While Hanlen was busy prepping prospects for the 2016 draft, Oubre began his own regimen in Orange County with another trainer, ICE-O’s Charlie Torres. Together, they focused on the swingman's handle—not to bounce the ball lower and tighter but rather higher, ideally above his hip.

“If you’re mixing a wide, high dribble with someone as athletic as Kelly with a 7’2” wingspan, it’s really sneaky,” Torres said. “By the time you realize the guy’s by you, you’re getting dunked on at the rim.”

They invested time in Oubre’s shooting and finishing (and a bit on his defense, at Brooks’ behest), but the heavy lifting on those fronts began once Hanlen set up shop in L.A. for the summer.

He helped Oubre remodel his jumper in three phases: First, they focused on his feet to improve his balance. Then, they ironed out a shoulder twerk that had caused some side rotation in Oubre’s shot. Finally, they straightened out his follow-through as much as possible.

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Oubre had ample opportunity to test the tweaks in live action. Whether it was Torres or Hanlen who put him through his paces after his 9 a.m. lift sessions, Oubre would jump into afternoon scrimmages at Maps Sports Facility in Garden Grove.

At first, he hesitated to take charge.

“He’s kind of used to just hitting a wing and letting someone create for him,” Torres said. “I was like, ‘Man, that’s not how it works out here. You’re the NBA player. You tell everyone else where to go. You call for the on-ball [screen]. If you get a rebound, you keep it. You shush people away.’”

Never, though, did Oubre shy away from a dunk. Every time he was within striking distance, he tried to “tear the rim down,” even though “skinny guys don’t really tear rims down,” Oubre said.

“I think he should just be a monster in transition,” Torres said. “Like, he’s so fast and strong. If you’re running with someone like John Wall, you’re going to be pretty good.”

Oubre often had NBA company on the court. At times, he got to measure himself against the league’s L.A. natives, including James Harden and Stanley Johnson. In those matchups, he more than held his own.

“Kelly’s good defensively,” Torres said. “He can move his feet, he can get up quick, he can contest, he rebounds really well. That was fun to watch.”

David Dow/Getty Images

Yet, for all the individual improvement, there have been signs of more work yet needed.

Oubre’s clearest progress report came in July, when he joined the Wizards for the Las Vegas Summer League. He led Washington in points (19.2), rebounds (5.6) and steals (1.8) but racked up more turnovers (2.8) than assists (1.8) and struggled with his shot (37.5 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from three) during the team’s five games.

“It’s been a little weird because, you know, you’re working out individually all summer long,” Oubre explained following a 71-60 summer-league win over the Atlanta Hawks at Cox Pavilion. “Then you come out here against this caliber of competition. You have to learn how to put the things in position and perspective. The things I’m working on, I’m trying to use them, but I’ve got to figure out the right time to use them and the right time to do certain things.”

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The time spent with the Wizards, in both Washington and Las Vegas, gave Oubre a clearer picture of what his role would be this season and what he had to focus on until then. He returned to Southern California and dug back into his routine—weight training in the morning, skill work in the early afternoon, scrimmages after that.

By late July, Oubre had made more significant progress, particularly on his shot. In one workout, he drained 100 of 155 (64.5 percent) threes amid reminders from Hanlen to square his hips and shoulders toward the hoop. During another, he knocked down 31 of 50 (62 percent) from the top of the arc and another 34 of 50 (68 percent) from the left wing.

Still, as a gold fleur-de-lis—a reminder of his New Orleans roots—rattled around his neck, Oubre wondered if his conscious effort to master the adjustments had made his shot a bit too mechanical.

“It's good to be a little robotic,” Hanlen reassured him. “Robots don't f--k up; people do.”

Being a basketball cyborg might not be the worst thing for Oubre in the long run. It would put him in a category with Leonard, for one. It would also appeal to Oubre’s desire to nail all the details.

“He wants every move, every action, every shot to be perfect,” Torres said. “In basketball, you have to improv a lot of stuff. It’s not going to be that perfect.”

The small stuff may be well worth sweating. One season spent at the nervous end of a rotational yo-yo was enough for him.

“It was humbling,” Oubre said, “just watching guys that I know I could compete with and guys that I’ve competed against before.”

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

If Oubre establishes his ability to shoot and defend during the preseason, he’ll get to do much more than sit and observe during the actual games. And if he excels in that role, he just might get to show what he's capable of, perhaps on a playoff stage.

“I’m working my way up to becoming more of a key guy,” Oubre said. “Everybody has to wait their turn. I’m waiting mine now patiently, but I’m just getting better.”

Before Oubre can be great, he’ll have to be good—good enough to push Washington’s other wings, to make life easier for Wall and Beal, to repay his teammates’ faith in him with a new and improved Kelly Oubre.

“I’m just going to stay in the gym and continue to work for my guys,” he said. “Hopefully, they do the same.”

All quotes obtained firsthand. For more content on Oubre, check out these: here, here, here, here and here.

Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.