Charlotte Hornets: How Kelly Oubre Jr. helps LaMelo Ball

For the Charlotte Hornets staff, the top priority is to surround their young star LaMelo Ball with the talent to help him grow and excel as a player in the NBA. With the arrival of Kelly Oubre Jr., the Hornets are hoping that he can seamlessly slot into the rotation and provide impactful and productive minutes for the team.

Oubre’s skillset matches perfectly with a player like Ball. Standing at 6’7 with elite athleticism, Oubre is always a threat in the open court with or without the ball in his hands. After just one season in the NBA, Ball has become notorious for his ability as a lob passer. He and Miles Bridges combined for countless alley-oops in his debut season and Charlotte will be looking to abuse this skillset for the foreseeable future.

Oubre will be looking to make an immediate impact in this regard. Having multiplayer players on the wing who have the ability to get above the defense and finish at the rim will prove to work wonders alongside a passer like Ball. Oubre might not be as flashy of a dunker as Bridges but he should provide plenty of wow moments like the clip below.

Along with his dunking ability, Oubre’s overall ability to finish at the rim should help Ball with his assist numbers. Oubre shot 61.7% from less than five feet away from the basket last season, which is ok for a forward. For comparison, Bridges, who is one the best in-game dunkers of all time, shot 68.2% from that same distance.

Oubre is a career 32.6% three-point shooter so Charlotte should not expect him to be extremely efficient from distance. However, Oubre has proven that when he gets hot, he can score at will. Just last season in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Oubre exploded for 40 points, shooting 7 of 10 from three. Even though he hasn’t been consistent with his shot, defenses still respect him when he’s on the perimeter, and this alone will help Ball as he moves into year two.

Having another player on the court who the defense respects will open up lanes for Ball to either go to work and get his own bucket or find open teammates. The cherry on top for Oubre would be if he can become a consistent shooter. This would really open up the game for him, Ball, and the rest of the team.

Oubre should be able to join this Charlotte team and immediately produce. At 25 years old, Oubre is still young enough to where he can build chemistry and grow with Charlotte’s young core.