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When the Philadelphia 76ers took the court in Portland for a road game against the Trail Blazers, fans had a pretty good idea they were going to see their friendly neighborhood Sixers secure a win. Sure, the Blazers have 11 wins, which is only two fewer than the 76ers, but they've looked downright bad for much of the year, as their Net Rating of -8.9 clearly proves.
What fans likely didn't expect, however, was to see Kelly Oubre turn in an absolutely wild statline of 15 points, five rebounds, and a career-high eight steals lining up in the home gym of Mattise Thybulle, who knows a thing or two about picking off passes from his time in Philadelphia.
When, you may ask, was the last time a 76er put up that kind of stat line? Well, that would be no other than Robert Covington, who was putting up that kind of producton back in 2015, right when Philadelphia was getting ready to turn the corner out of The Process.
Oubre was active all over the court for his 37 minutes of action in a 125-103 victory, helping to amass 91 points in the first three quarters before allowing Nick Nurse to clear his bench and give two-way guys like Pete Nance a chance to show what they can do on an NBA court.
Was Oubre perfect? No, he missed all three of his shots from beyond the arc and finished out the game with 6-10 shooting from the field, but he made all three of his field goal attempts and finished out the game with 15 points, which ranked fourth on the team behind Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Guerschon Yabusele.
With Paul George continuing to struggle from beyond the arc and the field combined, scoring just nine points in 23 minutes to go with his six rebounds, four assists, a steal, four turnovers, and five personal fouls, getting a huge defensive game from Oubre is fantastic, especially if this can be the start of a new trend.
With the 2025 NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, Oubre is one of the more interesting players on the 76ers' roster heading into February. The team prioritized him enough to sign him to a new contract over the summer, but they gave him a number that, when packaged with players like KJ Martin and/or Caleb Williams, could bring back a really good, high-profile player. If the 76ers want to bring back a player like Keon Ellis, who costs just over $2 million, then yeah, the path is simple, but if they instead have their eyes on a player who costs more than $5 million, Oubre may be part of the asking price another team brings to the table. If that happens, will Philadelphia's front office brass of Daryl Morey, Elton Brand, and company say yes? Or no? That, folks, is one of the more interesting questions of the 76ers' 2024-25 season.
