Kelly Oubre Jr. wants to become top SF in 2015 draft class

Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr. celebrates as the Jayhawks begin to take over the game late in the second half against Texas on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 2015 NBA Draft class doesn’t include a can’t-miss, franchise-changing small forward, and ever-confident Kelly Oubre Jr. thinks he has the potential to become the best from this crop of draftees at his position.

That certainly isn’t the popular opinion, or one reflected on publicized mock drafts and big boards. However, the one-and-done wing from Kansas who currently projects as a late lottery pick has a goal of going in the top seven a few weeks from now.

The 6-foot-7 forward admits there are plenty of other great prospects available, but he told DraftExpress.com he is out to prove people wrong.

“I feel like I’m the hardest-working
guy in this draft,” Oubre said,
“because I have a chip on my
shoulder.”

Most draft prognosticators have Oubre going somewhere around 14th in the June 25 draft. If he is indeed able to attain his top-seven goal, it would likely mean jumping the small forwards currently rated ahead of him.

ESPN’s Chad Ford proclaimed Oubre may have “more upside than any other wing in the draft” after watching him work out in Santa Barbara, California, in late May.

Ford said when Oubre began his one college season in Bill Self’s doghouse, players such as Duke’s Justise Winslow and Arizona’s Stanley Johnson moved ahead of him. Those two, as well as 20-year-old Croatian Mario Hezonja, in particular figure to be his stiffest competition if an organization wants to use its lottery pick on a wing.

Oubre told Ford that Self brought out the best in his game by demanding he compete on both ends of the court.

“Once coach dropped the hammer on me
and made it known I needed to be a
two-way player, I kind of started to
get things and flow better. Now I know
that at the next level, I have to be a
two-way player.”

According to Ford, scouts now question Oubre’s offense. Shooting and ball-handling both give evaluators pause. So the wing from KU is working with Drew Hanlen — the same trainer who worked with Andrew Wiggins — on his jump shot and ball-handling.

Santa Barbara has become Oubre’s temporary home as he trains at P3, the same place where Arizona’s Stanley Johnson, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and others are preparing for their first years as pros. Wiggins trained at P3 last year, and other standouts such as Dwight Howard and Al Horford have utilized the services available there in the past.

Oubre told DraftExpress.com his goal by the time he leaves P3 is to become faster and “a more well rounded athlete.” The workouts focus on his upper body and core, he added, so he can drop his hips more when he makes certain moves. Oubre wants to become a stronger player and be able to assert himself when he attacks on offense.

The good news for the 203-pound 19-year-old is a lot of what he goes through at P3 isn’t too different from what he picked up at KU.

“Andrea Hudy is one of the best
strength coaches in the country. She
pretty much had us doing a lot of
mobility things we’re doing at P3,”
Oubre said of the easy transition. “I
had a little step up from when I came
to school, so it was great.”

Of course, plenty of his training is strictly basketball-focused, with an emphasis on his one-on-one skills, his defense and becoming a better shooter. Oubre said he needs to show consistency with his jump-shooting, and he’ll become more fluid with hours of repetition.

“I’m just trying to perfect something
I know I can be great at at the next
level,” he said.

Oubre also understands he’ll need to become a better ball-handler than he was in his one season with Kansas. Basically, he said he’s working on all the things he knows “will get me paid higher at the next level.” Good idea.

Wisely, Oubre says he plans to utilize the whole pre-draft process to improve himself, by learning from the people around him not just about the game, but also the business side of being an NBA player.

“This past season was great. I learned
a lot,” he said of his stop in
Lawrence. “It wasn’t the best season
for me, but I just feel like this is
the right move for me and I’m just
learning a lot and growing as an
individual.”

Early in the NBA Playoffs, Oubre spent some of his down time watching a couple of the players he hopes to emulate as a pro, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and San Antonio’s Kawhi Loenard.

“Guys like that, I feel like they’re
the new wave,” Oubre said, describing
Butler and Leonard as players who can
lock down on defense and have huge
offensive games.

Speaking of defense, Oubre doesn’t lack sureness in his own potential there. Asked how many positions he could guard in the NBA, he responded: “Four. Maybe five.”

Really?

“There are superior athletes, great
big men at the next level,” Oubre
said, “but I don’t want to put any
boundaries on myself.”

Oubre considers himself a “superior athlete,” as well. We’ll soon find out how many NBA decision-makers agree with that forecast.

DraftExpress.com currently has Miami taking Oubre with the 10th overall pick in the draft — behind fellow small forwards Johnson (No. 9, Charlotte), Winslow (No. 7, Denver) and Hezonja (No. 5, Orlando). Another potential lottery wing, Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker, currently sits just outside the top 14 (No. 15, Atlanta).

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