JULY 14TH, 2:33pm: The Kings haven’t made a formal announcement of a signing, but they acknowledged as much on Twitter.
JULY, 5TH, 9:24pm: he Kings are close to re-signing unrestricted free agent Omri Casspi to a two-year, $6MM deal, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports (Twitter link).
In 67 games this past season, including 19 as a starter, the swingman averaged 8.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Casspi indicated well before the summer that he would be very interested in remaining in Sacramento. Casspi, who is represented by agent Dan Fegan, expressed a desire back in March to play in coach George Karl‘s up-tempo offensive system. The offense now will also include Rajon Rondo, who agreed to a deal with the Kings on Friday.
“I want to come back here so badly. I love the community and I feel like the team is finally moving in the right direction,” Casspi said then. “George Karl’s system is great, and I’m not just saying that because I play for him, but because I really do believe this is the right way to play basketball. Spacing the floor. Moving, making extra passes, sharing the ball. Getting our hands on balls, deflections, then getting out and running. Unfortunately, coach Karl has not had a lot of time to teach us everything, but these last two games, you can see what we can become.”
In addition to Rondo, the Kings have also added Marco Belinelli and Kosta Koufos in free agency and drafted center Willie Cauley-Stein, which supports executive Vlade Divac‘s win-now mantra, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. Re-signing Casspi is another move that signals the Kings are serious about contending.
Casspi is the rare player who finds Sacramento a destination these days. But if it works for you, it works.