Rewind to the 2025 offseason, and there was a notable rumor involving the Philadelphia 76ers that should have been of great intrigue to the Los Angeles Lakers. The 76ers were looking to potentially unload Kelly Oubre Jr. or Andre Drummond, for the right price. The Lakers missed their shot.
This was before Philadelphia had brought back Quentin Grimes. The idea in that intel from Jake Fischer was that moving on from one, or both, of the two players mentioned above would allow the 76ers an opportunity to pay their former free agent more and lock down a long-term deal.
Instead, the 76ers ended up keeping both on the roster. Grimes returned for the qualifying offer of one-year, $8.7 million as he and Philadelphia failed to come together on an agreement to keep him in the city for the long run.
Oubre is playing some of the best basketball of his career to start the 2025-26 NBA season. The 76ers have been stronger than advertised thanks in part to it. The Lakers, who were eyeing a two-way upgrade on the wings, are still stuck in that exact same position.
Kelly Oubre Jr. proving to be the two-way spark Lakers would have loved
The Lakers, even without getting a deal done for a clear two-way upgrade, have still been really good in the early parts of this season. Los Angeles has quickly established themselves as a team who should be taken seriously as a genuine contender.
Even so, one would imagine Rob Pelinka goes looking for upgrades at some point. The Lakers roster is good, very good, but could still use some fine-tuning before a very important playoff run in 2026.
Is Oubre off the table for the Lakers in February? With the way he and the 76ers have been performing to start the year, there is a good chance that is indeed the case.
Philadelphia has looked like a playoff team, even without Joel Embiid at his best. Tyrese Maxey deserves a lot of credit for that. As does an immediate emergence from V.J. Edgecombe in being the early Rookie of the Year frontrunner.
Oubre has done his part too. The 76ers wing is flirting with one of the highest scoring averages of his career. His efficiency has also been tremendous. In particular, his 3-point shooting has look as good as it ever has. Coupled that with his relentless defensisve energy, and that is a strong contributor to have in your starting lineup.
As a pending free agent for the summer of 2026, perhaps the 76ers will still consider moving him before the trade deadline. However, with the team playing well, and a weakened Eastern Conference, one would expect Philadelphia to be buyers, not sellers. That would be the Lakers' loss.