Immediately after word surfaced in November that the Warriors had agreed to trade for Kelly Oubre, one of the talking points was the massive amount of money the franchise was willing to spend to make it happen.
ESPN's Bobby Marks broke it down:
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Oubre was asked at his introductory press conference if he feels more pressure to produce knowing Golden State's steep financial commitment.
"No. My job is to go out there and play basketball," the 6-foot-7 lefty said. "Whatever the tax breakdowns [are] -- you can leave that for the accountants who run the books for the organization. That's not my job to worry about any of that.
"I'm just here to play basketball."
It turns out that Oubre actually was feeling some additional stress.
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“When I first got here, to the Warriors, I was feeding into all the pressure of the salary-cap stuff, the contract year,” he recently told The Athletic's Marcus Thompson. “You know, the new team that I would really love to make this a home for me in the future.
"I was kind of putting too much pressure onto myself.”
And that clearly impacted his game.
Oubre averaged 12.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists over the Warriors' first 21 games, while shooting below 38 percent overall and 23 percent from beyond the arc.
“When I got out of my head and I just put my focus and my energy into my craft and everything that was most important to me in my life, I think that’s when I knew I turned the corner," he told Thompson.
The 25-year-old has been fantastic the last 14 games, averaging 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 50.5 percent shooting overall and 43.4 percent from deep.
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It's possible that the Warriors now view Oubre as part of their long-term future, and will make re-signing him in free agency this summer a top priority.
But the NBA trade deadline is two weeks away, and Oubre's name assuredly will appear in headlines and reports.
Hopefully for the Warriors he is able to block out the distractions, and continue to play at a very high level as Golden State looks to rise up the Western Conference standings.