Andre Roberson will miss at least three weeks with a right knee sprain, The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater reports, and because of the timing of the All-Star break, it means he’s not expected to play again until February 19th at the earliest. The Thunder will seek to find ways to mitigate the loss of Roberson’s defensive prowess in the meantime, with Kyle Singler seemingly his most likely replacement in the starting lineup, Slater writes. The trade deadline is February 18th, one day before Roberson would return. See more from the Northwest Division:
- Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post rates Danilo Gallinari below only LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony among NBA small forwards, placing Gallo above Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gay and Harrison Barnes as he writes in his mailbag column. The Nuggets signed Gallinari to a renegotiation-and-extension this past summer that gives him $45.15MM from this season through 2017/18.
- Former Timberwolves power forward Arinze Onuaku has decided against signing in the D-League, according to international journalist David Pick, who hears he might be headed for the Philippines instead (Twitter link). Onuaku, who joined Minnesota with a week to go in the 2014/15 season, had been set to return to the D-League affiliate of the Cavs.
- The Timberwolves have assigned Adreian Payne to the D-League affiliate of the Magic, Minnesota announced (Twitter link). The plan the Wolves have for the former 15th overall pick is for him to play five D-League games before returning to Minnesota, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Orlando’s affiliate is involved because the Wolves don’t have a D-League team of their own.
I doubt the Thunder will miss Roberson much. Singler is a pretty solid “glue” guy who doesn’t try to do too much.