Thunder swingman Andre Roberson hasn’t played in an NBA game in nearly two years, and while he had been cleared to practice without restrictions earlier this offseason, OKC is continuing to be cautious with the defensive stalwart, pens Erik Horne of The Oklahoman.
Roberson still hasn’t played in the preseason, and when asked about it, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday, “We’re not going to rush him.” Moreover, for the last week, Donovan said Roberson has been participating with the team, but not all of the contact drills, after having some soreness in camp.
“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 (the Thunder are) playing five-on-five, he’s getting that there,” Donovan said. “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.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Trail Blazers veteran big man Pau Gasol will not play in either of the team’s final two preseason games, and his status for the regular season remains up in the air, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Head coach Terry Stotts said of Gasol (Twitter link), “He works with (the health and performance staff) every day, he’s very diligent about doing what he needs to do. But as far as an update, there is really no update.”
- Nick Kosmider of The Athletic writes that Nuggets forward Jarred Vanderbilt is concentrating on a specific skill set – rebounding – to make his mark in the NBA. “There’s always a spot for rebounding… every team needs that, whether it’s offensive or defensive. I feel like that’s guaranteed for me. I can get rebounds every night.”
- Coming off a knee injury and resulting surgery that limited him to 35 games last year, Timberwolves forward Robert Covington says he is fully healthy and will look to work on improving his rhythm and conditioning, per Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
Roberson should be another player that should leave OKC to compete. He’s a top top defender and could be handy for a lot of teams.
Maybe Mavericks for Courtney Lee, or to Utah for Dante Exum
He has almost no trade value after missing his last 125 games.
If he wasn’t making $10.7M this season then someone probably would be interested in trading for him, but the only high-paid players for OKC that have any real trade value are Adams and Gallinari. No one is giving up anything good for Chris Paul, Roberson, or Schröder.
Yes he obviously has low value but he’s a really really good defender. His 1 year 10 mil contract isn’t bad I’m sure the Mavs would rather have him over Courtney Lee. Lee isn’t in their plans and Roberson would be the teams best defender and would be good for them come playoffs. Or the Jazz, they haven’t looked that good in preseason and Roberson would be their best defender not named Gobert. He would be handy off the bench with scorers like Jeff Green there
He is going to have to prove this season that he is healthier before anyone will tough him.
*touch
What is the issue with Gasol, this post says nothing about what is wrong with him.
If I am not mistaken he had a broken foot or something similar, that is what he is recovering from.