Kelly Oubre Trade Rumors: Warriors 'Listening to Lots of Potential Offers' on SF

The Golden State Warriors are reportedly "listening to lots of potential offers" for forward Kelly Oubre Jr. ahead of the 2021 NBA trade deadline on Thursday.

ESPN's Zach Lowe reported Monday the Dubs don't feel "much urgency" to deal Oubre, but they "might be willing" to move him if the package featured enough assets that would help in the future.

Oubre has overcome a sluggish start to his Warriors tenure to become a key piece of the lineup. He averaged 20.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists across 15 appearances in February while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, including 43 percent from three-point range.

The 25-year-old New Orleans native was coming off a career year with the Phoenix Suns when he was traded to Golden State in November. He put up a career-high 18.7 points per game in 2019-20.

He's in the final season of his two-year, $30 million contract, however, so the Warriors' front office may look to receive some value for him before he can become an unrestricted free agent at season's end.

It's not a cut-and-dry case, though. Golden State sits ninth in the Western Conference with a 22-21 record and holds a 3.5-game lead over the 11th-placed New Orleans Pelicans in the race to earn at least a spot in the play-in tournament before the playoffs.

Trading Oubre for future assets would be a blow to those short-term postseason hopes since 13 of the conference's 15 teams are still in the postseason hunt.

On the flip side, the Warriors aren't a top-tier title contender this year and Klay Thompson will return from injury to take his starting spot back next season, which makes it unlikely the University of Kansas product will return to the squad for the 2021-22 campaign.

So the Golden State front office faces a difficult decision about whether to focus more on the present or the future.

If made available in the coming days, Oubre should attract ample interest from contenders as a proven scorer who has experience both as a starter or coming off the bench.