Kelly Oubre misses cut for 2017 Rising Stars Challenge

Kelly Oubre’s recent surge has caught the eyes of many around the league, but it wasn’t enough to get him an invitation to the 2017 Rising Stars Challenge.

The NBA released the rosters for this year’s game on Wednesday afternoon, and Oubre was not one of the 10 listed on the U.S. team. Here’s the full roster for the U.S. squad:

• Karl Anthony-Towns
• Devin Booker
• Myles Turner
• Malcolm Brogdon
• Marquese Chriss
• Brandon Ingram
• D’Angelo Russell
• Frank Kaminsky
• Jahlil Okafor
• Jonathon Simmons

There are a few interesting inclusions on this list (Seriously, Jahlil Okafor?) but on the whole, you can see why he faced an uphill challenge to get a spot on the final roster. There’s a lot of lottery talent on the U.S. side that the league understandably wants to promote, and the areas where Oubre excels (perimeter defense and outside shooting) aren’t exactly the things people are clamoring to see in these glorified exhibitions.

Oubre’s lack of production in some statistical categories also played a part in Oubre’s omission, according to J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic:

It’s disappointing that Oubre won’t get recognition for his efforts as of late, but at least Wizards fans can take solace in the fact that he has taken some important steps forward this season that improve the team’s outlook for the future and give the Wizards more options when it comes to lineup decisions.

Likewise, it’s disappointing to see that Tomas Satoransky didn’t make the cut for the World roster. It was pretty clear he wasn’t going to make it after he spent a good portion of the season on the bench, but it serves as an unfortunate reminder of how quickly he fell off after a promising start to the season. The good news is, he’s started to piece it together in recent weeks and will get another shot to make the roster next season.