2024 NBA Free Agency: Report: Kelly Oubre Jr. will re-sign with Sixers

Surprisingly, there were people who were upset when the Sixers brought in Kelly Oubre Jr. on a minimum deal.

Now the veteran winger has gotten a pay raise. Oubre will re-sign with the Sixers on a two-year, $16.3 million contract with a player option through 2025-26, a source confirmed to Liberty Ballers. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news.

Oubre’s deal would likely fall under the Sixers’ mid-level exception, meaning it wouldn’t eat into the team’s salary cap space. As Brian Toporek explained, Oubre could get less money now to secure a bigger payday with the Sixers next season — similar to what happened with Bobby Portis and the Bucks.

The roller coaster has fewer twists and turns than last year for Oubre. After his market dried up last summer, he opted to sign with the Sixers with a minimum of veteran players. He parted ways with agent Torrell Harris and looked to capitalize on his new opportunity in Philadelphia.

And he did just that.

Oubre has gone from a sort of afterthought to an integral cog in the Sixers’ rotation. There have been incidents along the way — when Oubre broke a rib when he was hit by a car in November or when he crashed his Lamborghini after a playoff game — but he ultimately proved his worth to the team. With Joel Embiid out and Tobias Harris struggling, Oubre proved to be the Sixers’ second-best player behind Tyrese Maxey to close out the regular season.

The 28-year-old acquitted himself well in his first postseason appearance since 2018. He played great defense against All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who probed and pushed himself away from Oubre in all six games for the Sixers-Nix First round series. Oubre was also the team’s third-leading scorer against New York behind Embiid and Maxey.

Oubre was vocal about his desire to start last season. It will be interesting to see where he moves in the starting lineup when Philadelphia clears all free agency deals. Woj’s reference to Oubre specifically as the team’s “point guard” seems intentional.

After the Philadelphia Sixers lost Game 6 to the Knicks, Oubre praised head coach Nick Nurse and his overall career with Philadelphia.

“Ultimately, I want to go to a place where they respect me and love me,” Oubre said at the time. “There was nothing but love here, of course. So at the end of the day, I feel like there’s unfinished business and a lot of things to do — a lot of work to get better and to get us back here past this point and this threshold that Sixers fans have wanted to get past for so long. I feel like I kind of failed because we didn’t get past that. I just have to think, talk to my family, sit down and work on what the next steps are here.”

Unfinished business seems to be a theme for this Philadelphia team. Now, Oubre has the opportunity to complete what he started building in Philadelphia.