Thunder year in review: Andre Roberson

Offseason outlook

Hair goals and leading man in OKC’s front office, Sam Presti, has another stressful summer ahead of him.

Roberson is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason after he and Thunder brass were unable to come to an agreement on an extension before the Nov. 1 deadline, and with that trip to the (semi) open market, Roberson figures to have plenty of suitors.

Take this nugget from Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale:

"All-world perimeter defenders are hard to find. Roberson tackles the toughest outside assignments even when they’re point guards. Draymond Green is the only player to defend more isolation sets, and of the 89 players to guard at least 200 pick-and-roll ball-handlers, Roberson is tied for second in points allowed per possession."

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Favale projects Roberson to garner something close to a four-year/$88 million contract this offseason, and if OKC isn’t ready to foot the bill for its premier wing, another team with money to burn will.

With Roberson’s deal, the Thunder will be faced with a dilemma. Does it want to enter the luxury tax for a non-contender? If not, Roberson might be lacing them up for a different team next season. But, with no real money to spend in free agency and even fewer tradeable assets, the Thunder’s best chance at improvement is nailing its draft selection and growing internally. That would mean keeping your best defender who’s still young enough to try and grow the other side of his game.

Presti’s track record – flipping the established Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo and the pick that became Domas Sabonis during the 2017 Draft and turning Cameron Payne and parts into a starting four and Dougie McBuckets – makes his moves difficult to predict, but smart money is probably on Roberson staying put.