Report: Ish Smith has physical with Thunder, could be in uniform Friday
Reinforcements may finally be on the way for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Down to just seven healthy bodies due to myriad injuries, the Thunder faced the possibility of playing Friday's game without the requisite eight players required to be in uniform. While it's the smallest of Band-Aids to close a Grand Canyon-sized wound, help is apparently coming.
The Thunder ran point guard Ish Smith through a physical on Wednesday and are set to sign him using the league's Hardship Exception, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. That means Smith could be in uniform as soon as Friday, when the Thunder take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
The team's injuries are well-documented: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Morrow and Mitch McGary are out until at least December, while Andre Roberson, Jeremy Lamb and Grant Jerrett are recovering from shorter-term ailments. The Hardship Exception allows teams to add a 16th player to the roster when four or more players have missed three or more consecutive games.
Smith isn't going to change the Thunder's fortunes much, but with Reggie Jackson also banged up, they could use the guard depth. In 191 career games with six teams over four seasons, Smith has averaged 2.9 points and two assists in 11.5 minutes.
He also has a pulse and two functioning legs, so he'll do.