NBA Draft 2015: 5 non-lottery players who will bring value

Kelly Oubre, SF Kansas

Of the five players we will profile in this space, Oubre is the most likely to actually land in the lottery. At the same time, the former Jayhawk has arguably the lowest “floor” of any player on the list.

To be frank, Kelly Oubre wasn’t fantastic as a freshman at Kansas. He quickly found himself in the doghouse of head coach Bill Self, to the point where he appeared for single-digit minutes on five different occasions during non-conference play. When he was on the floor, Oubre’s statistical contributions were relatively minimal, as the 19-year-old averaged just 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while playing only 21 minutes per contest.

With that on the table, why is Kelly Oubre such a tantalizing prospect? Well, the upside is enormous.

Oubre stands at 6-foot-7 with a wingspan greater than 7-foot-2, providing big-time length at the small forward position. Beyond that, he is an incredible athlete (37-inch vertical, etc.) with the type of high level skills that made him a consensus high school All-American just one year ago. Oubre flashed those talents at times at Kansas, including a quality jump shot that saw him knock down 36% of his three-point attempts despite somewhat questionable shot selection.

If you simply read that paragraph and ignored the production, it would seem as if Oubre is a legitimate lottery player, and the talent suggests that he is. Still, there is a reason that he landed in Self’s doghouse, as Oubre’s motor could use some work, and the aforementioned shot selection was ghastly enough to warrant the occasional benching.

Kelly Oubre could be a top-5 player in this draft without blinking an eye, but there is certainly downside to selecting him. Because he is slated to go outside the lottery, though, the relative risk is minimized to the point where snatching him up in the mid-teens would be a wise choice for a few teams looking to hit a home run.

Next: Bobby Portis