The Thunder are in trouble after Andre Roberson’s injury

Andre Roberson went up for what should have been an easy alley-oop in the second half of the Thunder’s blowout, 121-108, win over the Pistons on Saturday. But his knee buckled as he jumped, causing him to hit the ground hard and leave the game on a stretcher.

The expectation, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, is that Roberson ruptured his patellar tendon and that he’ll have season-ending surgery. Roberson had sat out eight games earlier in the month with tendinitis in that same area.

Roberson’s injury is terrible news for an Oklahoma City team that looked to have finally started to figure things out. The team is on a seven-game winning streak, and the Big 4 of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams look like they’re enjoying sharing the court together. They might like it a lot less without their fifth starter, though.

Roberson is a bit of a conundrum as one of the absolute best wing defenders in the NBA, but one of the worst offensive players. Still, what he does well, he does really well, and the Thunder don’t have the pieces on their current roster to just replace him.

This is a real headache for OKC’s management.

The Thunder fared poorly in 10 games without Roberson this season

Roberson missed eight games in Dec. and Jan. to patellar tendinitis, and two before that, and things and did not go well. The team went 5-5, suffering double-digit losses to the Suns, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers and Hornets.

In those blowouts, wings went on a tear. Devin Booker scored 26 points on 17 shots; Jimmy Butler scored 26 on 13 shots; and C.J. McCollum scored 27 on 19 shots.

His absence was felt.

The Thunder are dramatically worse on the defensive end without him

Without Roberson on the floor, the Thunder give up 11.9 points per 100 possessions more than when he’s on the court. Their 96.4 defensive rating with him to 108.3 without is the difference between the best defense in the NBA to the 14th-best. That’s drastic!

While Roberson is an awful scorer by any measure, he’s an essential piece to mask the defensive flaws of Westbrook and Anthony. He’s really important to his team’s success.

In his eloquent words, Steven Adams worded it best after Saturday’s game.

Adams on Roberson’s season-ending injury: It’s sh*t. It’s real sh*t. He’s a huge part of our team and why we win. It’s a huge blow to us but we’re just gonna have to rely on some other players to step up.

The Thunder don’t have a reliable replacement for Roberson. Now what?

Behind Roberson, OKC’s only options are Alex Abrines and rookie Terrance Ferguson. The Thunder are worse defensively when either are on the court.

That means the Thunder will need to get active at the deadline if they hope to make a deep playoff run — and convince Anthony and George to stay beyond this year.

There are no immediately clear fits for OKC to make moves on just yet. But even if the team can find a trade partner, they don’t have much to offer. Their main pieces are staying put, and they have few assets beyond them. OKC has already traded its lottery-protected pick this season, and its 2020 first-round pick too.

But something needs to change if OKC wants to compete past the second round of the playoffs though. The Thunder have 11 days before the trade deadline to figure out what.