Kelly Oubre Jr. found out he got traded by Suns when everyone else did

It’s a strange era to be in, when breaking news can reach millions of people via a quick phone notification.

That can complicate matters for sensitive information, such as a player being traded, and the Phoenix Suns’ Kelly Oubre Jr. was the latest case of that.

In what is becoming a more common occurrence during the time of Twitter reporting, Oubre found he was being dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder when all of us did.

Oubre told The Athletic’s David Aldridge he sensed some odd vibes after a workout at a Suns facility before a teammate told him why.

And I just see people looking at me with like a glare in their eyes. I was like, hmm. And then Cheick Diallo, he came up to me and was like, ‘hey, my boy, check Twitter.’ I don’t really get on social media like that. So I just went around and I asked Frank (Kaminsky), ‘hey, man, where am I going?’ ‘Cause I already knew I had got traded. So I was like, ‘where am I going, bro?’ And he was like, ‘OKC.’ And I said, all right. I just kind gave everybody a final goodbye, made my way around the room, and I left.

The 24-year-old wing deserved better with what he gave Phoenix in his two seasons, but it’s also a tough ask when a front office member from either side could be texting a reporter at the same time another is texting the player’s agent.

Oubre was quickly re-routed by the Thunder to the Golden State Warriors, a trade made official on Sunday and a great landing spot for the forward that allows him in a contract year to play a key role on a team that wants to win.

Later in the back-and-forth interview, Oubre said not playing in the bubble while rehabbing a knee injury was a choice for him that was just as much mental as physical.

But I didn’t want to risk me coming back off of injury, not being my full potential, and then people blaming me for things that I necessarily had no control over. So it was a lot of that spiritual warfare going on. But I was there. I was there all in all, supporting and rooting the guys on, and just helping out when I could. But for me to be able to play, man, I just didn’t feel comfortable coming back from that injury when I didn’t have any time to really get my mind around how I was feeling. So, that’s what happened.

It sounds like Oubre is looking forward to a new opportunity in Golden State. The forward went on to describe his time in Phoenix having a smidge of volatility to it because of what he desired his role to be within the team.

It was kind of a lot of pushback. I was trying to be understood and heard that I just want to win and help you guys win … Phoenix was great, but I got a lot of my stuff out (of) the mud. I got a lot of my points, I got out (of) the mud. I didn’t get a lot of plays called for me or anything. But that’s just how I’ve been playing my whole career

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