Mar 9, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr (9) shoots the ball against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Want to know how you can tell we're in the dying stages of the NBA offseason? Social media activity makes for worthwhile stories, by itself.
The man who goes by Tsunami Papi, Kelly Oubre Jr., had some things to say about recent trade rumors on Instagram:
Kelly Oubre Jr sobre os rumores do Philadelphia 76ers querer trocar ele:
"Eu amo Philly, mas o amor não parece ser recíproco. O que aconteceu com esse lugar?
E para aqueles dizendo que eu sou lixo porque minha porcentagem de 3 pontos caiu. Ainda coloco números e ainda… pic.twitter.com/SQYKNl0YrQ
I enjoy the dollar sign in place of S in multiple words throughout the comment. Oubre is not wrong, the affection for him has dried up a bit since his first year in Philadelphia. But that's more reasonably attributed to general sentiment about the Sixers than it is to people genuinely feeling a certain way about Oubre, specifically. There's probably a difference between how people felt about Tobias Harris as time went on and how they feel about Oubre. You can only be so over a player when they're making a veteran minimum and then the room mid-level exception. There's rightfully more venom toward a guy making a max and not playing like a max player.
That said, "I'd $Till cook you" is a useless argument. You better cook randoms who play basketball once a week at the local YMCA. You are, after all, an NBA player. I'd also say the "$till put up numbers" point is largely how Oubre's career has become what it has. He can score because he's rarely ever turned down a shot, and putting up significant scoring numbers doesn't impress many people when it doesn't contribute to winning. He's put up numbers despite, as he put it, "I'm garbage because my 3% went down", because he's always been one to call his own number when the ball approaches him.
On the other hand, you might feel some empathy for Oubre because it feels like his role is being squeezed in a contract year. Of course, Philadelphia has an infusion of young talent. There are players on the roster with more upside, and in whom the team has invested draft capital to bring aboard, who will challenge his standing. That doesn't even include the additions of lottery tickets Trendon Watford and Jabari Walker. Even with Paul George's uncertainty, you can envision a world where Oubre's job is not secured in Philadelphia anymore. There are financial stakes if he loses his starting job or minutes.
On a deeper level, the two offensive skills Oubre needs to be a commodity in the NBA - serviceable three-point shooting and/or decision-making - also happen to be two of his biggest weaknesses. He's long been billed as a poor perimeter shooter, and he doesn't make up for it with good floor vision or decisions with the basketball in his hands. So if he's not a commodity in the NBA and one of the few teams that still believed in him two summers ago is rumored to be interested in getting out of his business, yeah, there might be some pain in seeing the flame burn out.
For the record, Oubre has been a great dude to talk to and has given maximum effort every night he's taken the floor with the Sixers. He was one of the few Sixers who gave a crap on defense in last season's disaster. He's been nothing less than professional during his time with the Sixers.
Then, a Big Foot sighting on Tuesday night:
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 10, 2025
To be clear, that is the official Sixers X account posting the footage. Not Joel Embiid posting it, himself. But, yes, that is Embiid in front of cameras on a basketball court for the first time since he was shut down last season. Yes, that is Mr. Embiid looking slim. Yes, that is Embiid doing some basketball activity without a brace on his problematic left knee.
No, the championship season is not back on. Gonna have to rebuild a metric ton of equity with basically everyone by actually playing, and playing well, consistently before there's buy-in. But it would logically seem notable that he's pivoting - a destabilizing action - on that left knee sans brace in the clip.
Maybe he's on his Tim Duncan career arc?
