3 Things Charlotte Hornets must immediately do the minute free agency begins

#3 Charlotte Hornets waive goodbye to Kelly Oubre Jr.

Kelly Oubre Jr. was among the Charlotte Hornets best players last season. However, the injry bug hit the 27-year-old hard, limiting him to just 48 regular-season games. This isn’t the first time Oubre Jr. has missed a significant portion of the season, in fact, in the three years prior to him joning Charlotte, Oubre Jr. struggled to get near 60 games played.

Considering the contract the Oubre Jr. will likely command, it may be in Charlotte’s best interest to say goodbye in free agency. While there’s no doubting Oubre Jr’s skill, his inability to string together healthy seasons has to be a red flag that makes the Hornets stop and think before extending a deal during the summer.

If Mitch Kupchak wants to build a contending team, his best players need to be on the floor. I get it, injuries are inevitable. However, a consistent theme of missing more that 25% of a season is more than a stroke of bad luck – it’s a trend.

Gordon Hayward has suffered a similar fate since breaking his leg in his first game for the Boston Celtics, and the Hornets’ have never seen a prolonged stretch of Hayward’s best basketball since he joined the franchise.

Allowing Oubre Jr. to leave without a fight won’t be a popular decision among the fanbase – that’s why Kupchak is paid the big bucks, because sometimes the right decision isn’t the easiest one to make.