Andre Roberson Having A Setback During His Knee Rehab Sucks

Damn that sucks. I’m here for you Thunder fans, that’s some unfortunate news right there. This isn’t one of those things where a player has a setback that delays his return by a few weeks. Re-evaluated in two months, and even then who know if he’ll be good to go? For a team looking to compete in the uber competitive Western Conference, that’s rough. Roberson had ruptured his patellar tendon back in January and from everything I read the team was hoping he would be back by around November. Well now with this setback combined with the additional surgery he had over the summer to relieve inflammation, these are just things you do not want to hear. You start having to cut into knees multiple times, it’s a big deal. I don’t care even if things were “minor”, knee surgery is still knee surgery.

For the Thunder, this means they’ll be without one of the leagues best perimeter defenders even longer than anticipated. Roberson is one of those guys, sort of like Marcus Smart, that offensively are a bit of a liability at times, but bring so much value on the defensive end that they become a crucial part of your team’s success. Last season, it was clear the type of impact Roberson had, as the Thunder’s Drtg with him on the floor was a ridiculous 96.4. Without him? That number ballooned to 107.6, also known as pretty shitty. Basically OKC dropped from the 5th best defense in the league to 15th. Given the conference they play in, that matters. Anyone who says this isn’t a significant loss simply never really watched OKC play. They throw him out there against the other team’s best player, and for the most part he holds his own

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This now means guys like Terrance Ferguson are going to have to make a serious leap, because outside of Paul George, the Thunder are a little thin in terms of quality wings. Definitely something to factor in if you plan on wagering on the Thunder win totals this year.