Suns to meet with restricted free agent Kelly Oubre Jr. Sunday night

The Phoenix Suns will meet with restricted free agent Kelly Oubre Jr. on Sunday night, per 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro.

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. With the free agent period beginning at 3 p.m., the Suns could come to an agreement with the forward at the meeting.

Oubre, 23, was acquired from the Washington Wizards in late December in exchange for Trevor Ariza. Guard Austin Rivers was involved in the deal as well but the Suns waived him.

Due to his high level of energy and swagger on the court, the lefty quickly became a fan favorite and earned a rabid following locally on social media.

Oubre has thrived in Phoenix, posting career-high numbers in points (16.9), rebounds (4.9) and assists (1.7) per game, along with his best efficiency yet in shooting from the field at 45.3%.

After a thumb injury ended his season prematurely, Oubre told Burns & Gambo on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station that he wanted to remain a Sun.

“Why would I go anywhere else?” he said. “I’m here, I’m getting established and I’m not a guy that really wants to be on a million teams in my tenure in the league and I just want to create a dynasty and a legacy here in Phoenix with [Deandre Ayton], [Devin Booker], [Mikal Bridges], all the guys in the locker room. It’s beautiful.”

The Suns enter free agency with roughly $13 million in cap space. Because the Suns own Oubre’s Bird rights, though, Phoenix can go over the cap to sign Oubre.

Oubre carries a $9.6 million cap hold so long as Phoenix does not renounce its rights on the forward.

On the wing, the Suns have made it three straight years of selections in the first round of the NBA Draft, beginning with Josh Jackson fourth in 2017, acquiring the rights to Mikal Bridges last year and trading down in the 2019 NBA Draft to pick North Carolina’s Cam Johnson 11th overall.

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