As the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons exchange blows in an NBA Cup showdown in the Motor City, Nick Nurse will be without one of his top two-way wing options in Kelly Oubre Jr., who left the game early with a knee injury.
Taking to social media to break down the injury, Philadelphia Inquirer beat writer Keith Pompey revealed that Oubre Jr. would not be returning after it looked like he had tweaked his knee, calling it a “left knee hyperextension.”
Initially brought to town on a minimum contract in 2023, Oubre was pretty openly shopped around the NBA in trade conversations over the summer as the 76ers looked to offload his and Andre Drummond's contracts in the pursuit of extending Guerschon Yabusele and Quentin Grimes to long-term deals. While that didn't happen, the 76ers are probably better off for it, as Yabusele has struggled for the Knicks, while Oubre Jr. has played some of his best basketball in a red, white, blue, and sometimes black jersey, averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds in 36.6 minutes of action per game.
With Oubre out, the Nurse and the 76ers largely turned to their bench to help fill in his minutes, with Justin Edwards, Dominick Barlow, and Jabari Walker all joining Grimes in the double-digit minutes club. While only time will tell if Oubre will be forced to miss extra time due to his knee injury, he will certainly be missed on the court, which was borderline unimaginable four months ago when he was on the block.
