OKC Thunder lock-down defender Andre Roberson turns 27 years old in the midst of a long recovery process.
As the saying goes, you don’t fully appreciate what you have until it’s gone. And if there were any casual OKC Thunder fans fooled by the stat sheet, questioning Andre Roberson‘s impact, they likely see the bigger picture now.
It has been almost 11 months since Roberson was taken off the floor on a gurney in Detroit, and since then, the Thunder have been scrambling for a replacement. Everyone from Corey Brewer, Alex Abrines, Terrance Ferguson, Hamidou Diallo and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot have filled the role in the past, all of whom left us missing Roberson.
Happy Birthday @FlyDre21! pic.twitter.com/1K7Mm19sIQ
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 4, 2018
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Credit to where it’s due, OKC hasn’t done a bad job filling the role by committee. The Thunder are currently leading the league in defensive efficiency this season at 100.5 without Roberson on the floor.
But you have to wonder if the Thunder could’ve advanced past Utah in the playoffs last season and how much better they’d be this year, especially given how many injuries they’ve had so far.
Roberson was holding up a career-best 96.6 defensive efficiency rating last year prior to being ruled out for the season, which was 7.5 points better than the 2016-17 season. For comparison, Ferguson is sporting a defensive efficiency rating of 100.7 through 16 games, Diallo had a 106.0 rating before spraining his ankle and Abrines has a surprising rating of 95.8 in 19 appearances.
While we were hoping for Roberson’s return sooner rather than later, an MRI revealed an avulsion fracture. Per Erik Horne, he will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
A six-week re-evaluation date from today would be around Jan. 11. The Thunder will have played more than half its games this season, and Roberson will be approaching a year since his last game (Jan. 27, 2018) https://t.co/HL7VfzgBcP
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) November 30, 2018
Until then, we can only hope to see Ferguson play above his years, Diallo makes a full recovery and Abrines shoot consistently from the perimeter.
For now, however, we wish Roberson a happy birthday and better news in his re-evaluation. If all goes according to plan, he will be at full strength come playoff time and the bench will have gained quality experience.