Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Alex Abrines looks like he will be the odd man out of the rotation with Andre Roberson returning.
The Oklahoma City Thunder look to have righted the ship a little bit. After some tumultuous stretches, they are looking to have figured some things out. Some injuries have caused the rough waters, but the team is about as healthy as they have been at any point this season with Andre Roberson returning to the lineup.
The Thunder’s defensive ace was sidelined eight games because of a knee injury. While his offensive skill-set is the punch line of plenty of social media jokes, he is a legitimate difference-maker on the defensive end.
Roberson leads the shooting guard position in Defensive Real Plus-Minus with a 3.61, according to ESPN. The next closest shooting guard is Victor Oladipo with a 2.02. Only Hassan Whiteside, David West and Aron Baynes have better DRPM than Roberson in the entire league.
Without Roberson, the Thunder went 4-4. The first six games were a struggle, as only the Los Angeles Lakers failed to reach 100 points against the Thunder without Roberson. The last two games without Roberson they began figuring things out, as they defeated the Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings, holding both teams under 100.
That winning streak continued in Roberson’s first game back against the Lakers. The Thunder destroyed the Lakers for the second time in two weeks. Roberson reclaimed his spot in the starting lineup, pushing Terrance Ferguson back to the bench.
Roberson played 17 minutes against the Lakers, which could have been because it was his first game back, but the blowout surely played a part as well. With Roberson back in the lineup, someone has to be pushed out of the rotation. From the looks of it, that player will be Alex Abrines.
Abrines played only eight minutes against the Lakers, a majority of which came in garbage time with the game in hand. He looks to have been jumped on the depth chart by a number of players and is sliding out of the Thunder rotation.
Billy Donovan gave Abrines chances, he just failed to capitalize on them. Abrines was pegged as the starter when Paul George was sidelined at the end of December.
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He did little with the opportunity, as he didn’t even start the second half. That opportunity went to Josh Huestis, who capitalized on it and played well.
Earlier in the month, Donovan said he needed more from Abrines needed to improve defensively to earn more minutes. Abrines didn’t have a chance to prove himself after that, as he strained his right groin and missed two games.
Since Donovan said that and Abrines returned to the lineup, he was given a chance with Roberson sidelined. In the five games without Roberson, Abrines played at least 12 minutes three times, and fewer than five minutes twice.
While the chances were limited given the playing time, he failed to do much with them. Instead, it was rookie Terrance Ferguson and the aforementioned Huestis who Donovan turned to.
Ferguson was inserted into the starting lineup when Roberson was sidelined and responded with some monster games, such as a 24-point outburst against the Lakers.
Huestis gives the Thunder another versatile player that can defend multiple positions. He’s had a consistent role in the rotation for over a month now and looks locked into that role.
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Given how things have shaken out recently, Abrines will have to earn a spot back in the rotation. Both Ferguson and Huestis have come on recently and earned their spots in the rotation.