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OKC Thunder Sign Ish Smith To Battle Durant, Westbrook Injuries

By Bryan Rose

Mar 2, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns point guard Ish Smith (3) goes up for a layup against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns point guard Ish Smith (3) goes up for a layup against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Ish Smith with their Hardship Relief Exception to battle the injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

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Losing Kevin Durant for an extended period was a nightmare scenario for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Losing Russell Westbrook for an extended period while Durant was out? Too cruel to even imagine, but that’s exactly what has happened for the OKC Thunder who resemble more of a MASH unit than a basketball team.

As if that wasn’t bad enough the team is also dealing with injuries to other important players like Reggie Jackson, though the swingman returned likely before he should have just to give the Thunder enough healthy bodies to form a roster.

That’s why general manager Sam Presti hit the free agent pool and signed Ish Smith who most recently played for the Houston Rockets during the preseason. Smith, who also played for the Phoenix Suns last year was released by the Rockets just days before the regular season was to begin.

Smith has proven himself to be worthy of a roster spot on an NBA team though has bounced around as he’s played on six differnet teams during his four years in the NBA. He’s never been much more than a back end of the bench player so his numbers understandably won’t jump out at you, though should get a solid amount of playing time for the OKC Thunder while both Durant and Westbrook recover from their injuries.

Thunder fans obviously weren’t expecting to be relying on a player like Ish Smith just days into the regular season, though the pint-sized point should help fill out the roster moving forward.

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