Kerr explains why Warriors miss injured Oubre in rotation

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Kelly Oubre's contributions to the Warriors' rotation have been sorely missed, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained Friday.

"The fact is, Kelly is one of our most athletic players, he's got great size on the wing, he can play multiple spots, so we miss all of that, there's no question," Kerr said on 95.7 The Game. "His injury has been really unfortunate for him obviously, and for us. But it's just part of the deal, so you just absorb it and you keep going and the good thing is, we've had guys really step up between Juan and Mychal Mulder playing well, Kent Bazemore in the starting lineup has been excellent, brings a great competitive spirit and ball pressure defensively, so we're getting really good contributions from guys, but we definitely miss Kelly."

Oubre first injured his wrist on a scary fall against the Washington Wizards on April 9 and missed five games. After returning, Oubre aggravated the injury on April 27 against the Dallas Mavericks and hasn't played since.

The Warriors released an update on Oubre's status Thursday, saying the small avulsion fracture and ligament tear in his wrist would not require surgery, and that he would be re-evaluated next week.

Kerr and the Warriors have gone 3-2 in Oubre's absence. Bazemore has started the last five games, averaging 8.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in Oubre's sted.

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Juan Toscano-Anderson, who reportedly will be getting promoted from a two-way contract to a standard NBA deal, has been incredibly valuable to the Warriors with his versatility throughout the season, but especially with Oubre out.

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The Warriors almost certainly will be in the play-in tournament but come playoff time, a defensive player of Oubre's caliber will be critical.

Everyone across the Warriors organization will be hoping the swingman can return to the lineup by the time the regular season wraps up.

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