In a long-anticipated move, the Warriors have waived veteran forward Omri Casspi to create a roster opening for Quinn Cook, writes Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury News.
Cook, Golden State’s starting point guard with Stephen Curry sidelined by injury, must have his two-way deal converted to a standard NBA contract by Tuesday to be eligible for the postseason. The Warriors have discussed a two-year arrangement that will run through the 2019/20 season, but don’t plan to officially sign Cook until Tuesday, when playoff rosters must be finalized.
The Warriors were facing a deadline of 5pm Eastern today to waive Casspi because he has a guaranteed contract, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. The deadline allows 48 hours for Casspi to pass through waivers and is set for today because some teams wrap up the season on Tuesday, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
Golden State’s front office was hoping to keep Casspi, but decided the team needed all of its centers — Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee, Kevon Looney and Damian Jones — to provide more flexibility for playoff matchups, adds Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). It’s an unfortunate outcome for Casspi, who bypassed a potentially better deal with the Nets last summer to sign for the veteran’s minimum with the Warriors in hopes of winning a title, Stein adds (Twitter link). Even if another team were to claim him, Casspi wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs because he was on Golden State’s roster past March 1 (Twitter link).
The decision on Casspi was influenced by a sprained right ankle that has kept him out of the past 10 games, Medina notes. A recent MRI showed inflammation in the ankle and he had discomfort when making hard cuts. Casspi appeared in 53 games this season, averaging 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds and shooting .455 from 3-point range.
Why doesn’t basketball have a DL yet? And why can’t you have a 2 way player on a playoff roster? Probably some simple reasons why, I just don’t know them
There’s worse karma coming from Cali than from Cleveland right now. GSW has an even longer list of centers– include Jordan Bell.
Of course, two can be on the court at a time– but behind Durant and Green. Damian Jones is a fouling machine. They’ve given up on McCaw and probably McGee. But sure, dump Casspi.
Meanwhile all the players the Cavs cast off seem to be in a better place for them. IT-Lakers, Crowder-Utah, Wade- Miami, Shump– where he might start and stay there with some consistentcy.