The Oklahoma City Thunder have confirmed that Andre Roberson will miss the rest of the 2017-18 season after surgery to fix a ruptured patellar tendon, according to ESPN's Royce Young. A report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski last night said Roberson was expected to be out for the remainder of this season. Roberson averages 5.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from behind the three-point line.
Without Roberson, OKC will lack a wing defensive stopper alongside Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Alex Abrines and Terrance Ferguson might bring more to the table than Roberson on the offensive end, but OKC is already an offensive machine with Westbrook, George, Carmelo Anthony, and Steven Adams all on the floor. The challenge for whoever takes Roberson's place in the starting lineup will be sustaining strong defensive performances.
The Thunder do not have many options on their roster, which might force them to look for outside help. ESPN's Bobby Marks speaks about what OKC can do with their roster and their options:
“Besides their own roster, Oklahoma City has two small trade exceptions valued at $2.55M and $1.49M plus an open roster spot. The Thunder cannot trade a first-round pick until at the earliest 2024 based on their obligation to Minnesota (via UTH) this season and to Orlando in 2020 (via PHI). The pick owed owed to the Magic has top 20 protection in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The Thunder do have their second round pick this season and in 2019.”
Oklahoma City might have to dig deep into the pool of free agents or call up somebody from their G-League affiliate to find the best replacement. No matter who comes in, it will be very hard for him to match Roberson's defensive outputs.
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