Andre Roberson is going to be one of this summer’s most fascinating restricted free agents. Unlike Otto Porter and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he doesn’t have a defined max-contract value. He’s more Tim Hardaway and Tony Snell, only more so, because he’s elite in one area (defense).
Will that be enough to land him near-max offer sheets from teams who believe they can fix his jumper, need defense and believe the Oklahoma City Thunder will think twice, or 80 times, about matching a lucrative contract that takes them so much deeper into the luxury tax?
We’ll have to wait and see. But if both Roberson and the Thunder get their way, they’ll stay together for long haul, per The Oklahoman‘s Brett Dawson:
The restricted-free agent small forward last week expressed his interest in returning to Oklahoma City, and on Monday, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he’s “excited about the fact that (Roberson) is a part of the team.”
If he’s going to remain one, the two parties will have to reach an agreement in July.
“Every indication we’ve had from Dre and from his people, his agent, is that he loves playing here,” Presti said. “And I’ve always said this to everybody before: When the player shows an interest in being here, it really exponentially helps your opportunity to get a contract done, if you would like to.”
Roberson’s future will ultimately come down to his market value. The Thunder value his defense, but his erratic shooting can be easily replaced for much cheaper. Unless they believe he’s turned a corner, and that his 41.2 percent three-point clip in five games against the Houston Rockets is the new normal, they’ll have to cap his value before negotiations.
As for what that will be, we don’t know. The Thunder will have problems evading the luxury tax no matter what, barring any unforeseen salary dumps. Even getting Roberson at a bargain—perhaps $14 or $15 million per year—would put them in an unenviable situation. And this, ultimately, is their biggest dilemma: reconciling a luxury-tax bill for a team that’s not good enough to contend.
