As if the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offseason hasn’t gotten off to a weird enough start, they reportedly took a look at a pair of players who have been out of the game for quite some time.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, there was a workout held in Las Vegas on Monday which featured both Monta Ellis and Amar’e Stoudemire. Stoudemire hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2015-16 when he was a member of the Miami Heat. Ellis last played for the Indiana Pacers in 2016-17.
Among the 12 teams in attendance was the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to Haynes.
If the Thunder were to add either player, it seems reasonable to think they would be signing for the veteran’s minimum. Although, it still seems hard to imagine Oklahoma City would want to add either.
There only seem to be two reasons to bring one or both players aboard.
First, the Thunder may need to add a few players to fill out their roster as they continue to trade players away for future draft picks. With both Ellis and Stoudemire likely being affordable and not able to handle the same workload they did in their prime, they could be a fit as the young players on the Thunder roster garner the majority of the minutes.
Second, as was the case with Vince Carter in Atlanta last season, having a veteran presence to serve in a player-coach type of role could be beneficial for some of the younger players on the Thunder team as they take over in the franchise’s next phase.
