New York Knicks have Carmelo Anthony, Hasheem Thabeet at informal scrimmages

The New York Knicks have been holding informal scrimmages recently and veterans Carmelo Anthony and Hasheem Thabeet have been taking part.

It has been quiet around the New York Knicks recently. We are in the middle of the downtime for the NBA, as teams are gearing up for training camp, which will begin in a few weeks. H

owever, the New York Knicks have gotten back in the news recently with some lottery picks taking part in scrimmages the team is holding.

Offseason workout videos are plentiful on social media at this time of the summer. NBA players are taking part in different pro-ams, scrimmages and open gyms to work on their games.

Devin Booker recently went viral as Joakim Noah‘s team was sending double teams at Booker. That sparked a big debate on social media.

https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1163651905706442752

One player who has made multiple highlights reels from offseason open gyms is Carmelo Anthony. Hoodie Melo started a few summers ago as Anthony showcased his skills at Lifetime Fitness in runs against other NBA stars.

While those videos were fun for fans to view, it didn’t help Anthony stick in the NBA. Anthony is currently without a spot in the NBA and is looking to get back into the league. All he needs is for one team to take a chance on him; could it be the Knicks?

Anthony was expected to take part in some informal scrimmages with his former team. Working out with an NBA team, even in an informal setting, is a step in the right direction for Anthony getting back onto an NBA roster.

Anthony isn’t the only non-roster player taking part in these scrimmages, according to SNY. One of the other non-roster players taking part is Hasheem Thabeet.

Thabeet was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was selected one spot after Blake Griffin, who went to the LA Clippers and James Harden, who went third overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Thabeet has not played in the NBA since 2013-14 season when he appeared in 23 games with the Thunder. He was with the Detroit Pistons during training camp in 2014, but he did not make the team. Instead, he was with their G League affiliate.

Thabeet has had multiple workouts with teams this offseason. He is expected to workout with the Milwaukee Bucks for a second time as well.

Thabeet is in the photo that the Knicks’ official account shared on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/1166792735032074241

While there has been no indication that the Knicks are looking to sign Anthony or Thabeet, there has to be some level of interest, even if it is minimal. You wouldn’t have non-roster players taking part in these scrimmages if you had zero interest in adding them to the roster.

New York currently has one roster spot for training camp available, so one of these two veterans could fill that spot.

Given the current roster, Thabeet is the likelier player to get that training camp invite of the two. Right now, Mitchell Robinson is the only true center on the roster. Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis will also see minutes at the center spot, potentially Julius Randle as well.

On the other hand, the Knicks have a ton of players at power forward, where Anthony should get all his minutes at. Randle should be locked into a huge share of the minutes there. Marcus Morris will also see minutes at power forward.

Portis and Gibson can play power forward and the Knicks should be looking to get Kevin Knox and Ignas Brazdeikis minutes there as well.

Anthony getting another chance in New York is something a lot of fans would like to see, but it just doesn’t seem feasible at this point. There aren’t minutes available for him after Morris was added later in the offseason.

That last roster spot will be something to keep an eye on. New York has a two-way spot open, so they could opt to bring in another younger guy they could stash in the G League instead of a veteran such as Thabeet or Anthony.