The Oklahoma City Thunder have Kevin Durant back healthy this season and because of that they are expected to compete for a championship. The starting lineup is filled with four locks but the shooting guard spot is a bit of a question mark. New head coach Billy Donovan has options as for who we will start there including Dion Waiters and Anthony Morrow but it seems as though right now he is leaning towards starting Andre Roberson, according to Royce Young of Daily Thunder.
Donovan was asked who he might start at the two guard spot after one of the Thunder's practices and although he didn't give a flat out answer he did tip his hand a bit by saying that he was focusing on the defensive identity of the team for that spot. Waiters and Morrow will never be confused for guys that are defensive stoppers so that would seem to mean that Donovan is leaning towards the 6 foot-7 Roberson.
Another indicator that Roberson is the odds on favorite is that when Russell Westbrook was asked about being guarded by Roberson he said he didn't know because they always play on the same team which would seem to show that Roberson is practicing with the starters.
Roberson is a very good defensive player and started 65 of the 67 games he played in last season so this decision wouldn't be too much of a surprise but there was thought that Morrow or Waiters could take the starting gig in an effort to help space the floor. Roberson though does make the most sense as he is the best defender of the three by a wide margin and although he isn't nearly the shooter or scorer the other two are the first unit has plenty of offense with Durant, Westbrook, Enes Kanter and Serge Ibaka. Having Waiters and Morrow come off the bench would give the Thunder some nice scoring punch for their second unit.
In his 67 games last seaosn Roberson averaged 3.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game. The former Colorado Buffalo only made 25 percent of his threes but he added 1.6 defensive win shares in limited minutes so he brings a lot to the table on the defensive side of the ball which should be coveted by a team that figures to have an abundance of offensive weapons.
