Andre Roberson is one of the NBA’s top defenders. The Oklahoma City Thunder, a defensive-minded team, are just better when he’s on the floor. Unfortunately for them, Roberson has yet to see any time this season while he recovers from a ruptured patellar tendon that occurred last year. The hope was that Roberson would be able to return early during the 2018-19 campaign, but a setback before the season began put an additional two months of recovery time on the table for him.
Unfortunately, it looks like Roberson is dealing with yet another setback. The Thunder wing felt something happen during a workout on Thursday, and an MRI revealed a small fracture in his knee. The recovery time from this latest injury is up in the air, but he’s slated to meet with doctors in six weeks.
Per a Thunder spokesperson, Andre Roberson suffered another setback yesterday after landing from a jump during a workout and experiencing some discomfort. He had an MRI that revealed a small avulsion fracture in his knee and he’ll be re-evaluated in another six weeks.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) November 30, 2018
Roberson was progressing toward a return but was still some time away and while this setback is obviously unfortunate, it doesn’t entirely reset the timetable for him to come back. In six weeks the Thunder will have a clear picture of his expected return to play.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) November 30, 2018
While this is incredibly disappointing for Roberson, the fact that his timetable to come back might not be impacted is a positive. The last thing anyone wants is for his return to be delayed even further.
When Roberson is on the floor, there might not be a better defense than the one Oklahoma City boasts. He is one of the few players who can legitimately check the best scorers in the league. This allows Paul George to play in more of a help defense role and frustrate offenses into making mistakes or taking bad shots. Oklahoma City is still effective without Roberson, but when he’s available and healthy, the Thunder become lethal.
For now, the Thunder will have to continue going forward with what they have … which is a team that sits at 13-7 with the No. 1 defense in the NBA. It’s not like they’re in disarray without him, but it never hurts to be at full strength, especially when this is a team with title aspirations.
