The NBA season is now a couple weeks old and some free agents on the market like Ray Allen, Will Bynum, Quincy Miller, Ish Smith, Gal Mekel, MarShon Brooks, Dante Cunningham or Toney Douglas could be options for teams, as the OKC Thunder are ailing hard with injuries, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, NY Knicks and Chicago Bulls also could be interested.
The Thunder are the team that is most in need of help, as they have already lost Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and now Perry Jones is also out with an injury. The team has applied for the roster hardship exemption and that could come through soon and they may look at some of the free agent options on the market. Smith and Miller are options, while David Pick writes on Twitter that the team could look at Mekel.
According to ESPN.com, Mekel averaged 2.4 points and two assists in 9.4 minutes per game last season while playing for the Mavericks. Mekel played in only 31 games and he could be a solid option, as he can play the point and Sebastian Telfair right now is the only solid option for the Thunder. Smith has also been contacted by the Thunder according to David Aldridge at NBA.com, while John Lucas III and Bynum also could be options for the team.
The Thunder clearly needs a point guard and Smith comes in after playing in limited time the last time he had the chance to be in the league. Smith and Quincy Miller are young options and they could be good fits for OKC during this time. Miller averaged 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last season in his 36 minutes average and he played limited time, averaging 15 minutes per game. The Rockets have also expressed interest in Miller.
Durant will be out for a while for the Thunder and now Westbrook also could miss a couple months with his fractured hand. The team is without the two main stars and Westbrook has been making progress, but he is nowhere near ready to come back.
