Analysis: Kelly Oubre Should Make Up 50 Percent of Warriors' Klay Thompson Void

Kelly Oubre Jr. just landed in Oklahoma City as part of the trade that sent Chris Paul to Phoenix. Before he could unpack, it was reported Thursday he would be on his way to the Golden State Warriors to fill the hole that Klay Thompson's torn Achilles created. 

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the details of the trade, which has yet to be completed. Golden State will send a protected 2021 first-round pick to Oklahoma City that will convey if the team finishes in the No. 21-30 range. If it doesn't, the Thunder will receive two second-round picks.

Bob Myers has moved quickly to use a trade exception from last offseason's Andre Iguodala trade to bring Oubre's $14.4 million salary into their cap, which is ultimately going to add to a huge tax bill—$66 million dollars to be exact. 

Oubre posted career highs in points (18.7), three-point percentage (35.2) and rebounds (6.4) last season. He is also still just young, turning 25 before the season begins Dec. 22. 

There are few two-way players in the NBA like Thompson, and there is no true replacement for a player of his ilk for Golden State. The question is: Can it find a player who can make up enough of the difference? 

In Oubre, the Warriors brought in a guy who can make up at least 50 percent of the void. 

Offensively, Oubre is a different player than Thompson. He is not nearly as good coming off screen actions. Last season, he had a points-per-possession average of 0.83 compared to Thompson's 1.05 during the 2018-19 season. Those types of off-screen actions are a staple of the Warriors offense that might have to be dialed back with Oubre. 

There are still many other ways in which Oubre can have an impact on the offense. Besides shooting a career high from three, he's shooting 34.4 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. He has a good feel for moving into open space when the opportunity presents itself.

Take this game from last season against the Utah Jazz. As Jevon Carter drives baseline, Oubre drifts baseline with his defender watching the ball. 

Oubre 3

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Oubre's knack to move off the ball should make him a good cutting option for the Warriors. He had 1.14 points per possession off cuts last season, but that number should climb while playing with a talented passing big man like Draymond Green. In particular, he'll be a great target in the Warriors' post split action like on this play for the Suns, especially when you factor in swapping Ricky Rubio for Stephen Curry. 

Kelly Oubre Cut

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Oubre will also help the Warriors is in the transition game. His best points per reception comes from the transition game at 1.23. It was good for joint-third among NBA players with a minimum of three possessions. 

With his 6'7" frame, Oubre is able to explode whenever he finds a seam, which he is always looking for. In the clip below, he gets a block on Bojan Bogdanovic, runs the lane and blows past Rudy Gobert on the catch for the dunk.

Kelly Oubre Transition

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Oubre may not be able to run off screens and knock down threes with the grace of Thompson, but he'll be a valuable spot-up, cutting and transition target. Defenses are going to focus their efforts on stopping Curry and forcing the others to beat them. This will open up opportunities for Oubre.

Thompson was one of the NBA's premier one-on-one defenders prior to his injuries, and it is harder to replace him on that end of the court. Defense has never been Oubre's strong suit, and he is still not known for his ability to lock guys up despite improvement.

The Suns had a defensive rating of 110.4 with Oubre on the floor and 108.8 with him off. 

According to the NBA's matchup metric, Oubre gave up 13.2 points on average in his matchups, with most of his time split almost evenly between guards and forwards. That is 3.1 points more than Thompson's average in the 2018-19 season, when he gave up an average of 10.1 points with 67.9 percent of his time spent defending guards. 

The Warriors' plans for this season were completely derailed with the Thompson injury. Forced to scramble and armed with limited cap space, they look to have found themselves the best available option with the trade exception. 

There is no perfect replacement for Thompson; if there was, the price to acquire that player would be too rich for the Warriors. 

With Oubre in the fold, though, Golden State should still be competitive in the Western Conference. 

Mo Dakhil spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers and two years with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator, as well as three years with the Australian men's national team. Follow him on Twitter, @MoDakhil_NBA.