Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan has made it clear that the team is not going to rush Andre Roberson back onto the court. Roberson hasn't played in an NBA since Dec. 29, 2017 due to a ruptured patellar tendon.
Roberson had recently participated in five-on-five scrimmages during training camp and in practices throughout preseason ‘without restrictions.'
Before the Thunder's preseason finale against the Memphis Grizzlies, it was announced that Roberson was not going to play. Now, when asked about Roberson's status for the team's regular-season opener against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 23, Donovan expressed that he doesn't know if Roberson will be available.
Donovan on if Andre Roberson will be ready for the season opener: “I don’t know.”
— Brady Trantham (@BradyDoesSports) October 16, 2019
The recovery process has been difficult for Roberson, as he had suffered multiple setbacks. It still remains unclear if he suffered an additional setback recently or if this is just the Thunder being cautious.
OKC thought about sending Roberson to the G League as part of a rehab assignment to help him work his way back into form. As of late, they haven't indicated doing that this 2019-20 season.
“If he felt like he needed more game experience, I think that’s an option for him, but I think as long as we’re in training camp and we’re playing five-on-five, he’s getting that there,” Donovan said, via Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. “All we’ve talked about is him in practice and how we can get him to handle the workload on a consistent basis, and he’s done a really good job because he went a long period of time before he rested and we consider that positive.
“The one thing we don’t want to do is put him in a situation where we’re making him practice every single day and he can never catch up from a recovery standpoint.”
When Roberson is finally able to play regularly for the Thunder, it will be interesting to see how long it takes him to get comfortable on the floor. It has been nearly 18 months since his last NBA game and it will likely take plenty of time for him to get re-acclimated.
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