Omri Casspi Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Casspi Cleared To Play, Talking With Contenders

March 14th, 2017 at 10:11am CST by Arthur Hill

Less than three weeks after breaking his right thumb, Omri Casspi has received medical clearance to “resume basketball activities,” tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Casspi suffered the injury in his first game with the Pelicans after being traded from the Kings as part of the DeMarcus Cousins deal. New Orleans waived Casspi to open a roster spot rather than wait for him to heal. Casspi’s original prognosis put his recovery time at four to six weeks.

Now a free agent, Casspi has been contacted by several contending teams, according to Stein, who names the Clippers and Grizzlies among them (Twitter link). Memphis may need to find a replacement for Chandler Parsons, who could be shut down for the rest of the season with a partial meniscus tear in his left knee.

Casspi played just 22 games with Sacramento before the deal, averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per night. He missed more than a month in January and February with a strained plantaris tendon in his right calf.

Omri Casspi Drawing Interest From Playoff Teams

March 10th, 2017 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

After being traded from Sacramento to New Orleans as part of last month’s DeMarcus Cousins blockbuster, Omri Casspi endured some bad luck, breaking his thumb in his first game with his new team. However, having been waived by the Pelicans, Casspi is now drawing interest from playoff teams and could make an impact down the stretch, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links).

League sources tell Stein that Casspi, who was initially ruled out for four to six weeks, is ahead of schedule in his recovery from his thumb injury, and may only be about a week from receiving medical clearance. Although Stein doesn’t specify which teams might be eyeing Casspi, he notes that “multiple” clubs are in pursuit.

Casspi wasn’t just a throw-in for New Orleans in the Cousins trade — if he had stayed healthy, he could have provided the Pelicans with some much-needed outside shooting. The club was somewhat short-handed in the backcourt after acquiring Cousins though, and needed to free up Casspi’s roster spot to create room for a healthy player.

Although his role in Sacramento had been dialed back significantly this season after he posted a career-high 11.8 PPG in 2015/16, Casspi continued to be an effective shooter for the Kings this season. After making more than 40% of his three-point attempts in each of the last two years, Casspi has a 39.4% success rate from three-point range this season.

No teams currently in playoff position have open roster spots, but the Cavaliers will soon free one up by waiving Andrew Bogut, and the Rockets’ 15th player – Troy Williams – is on a 10-day contract. Any other current playoff team would have to cut someone in order to add Casspi, who will be postseason-eligible.

Pelicans Waive Omri Casspi, Sign Reggie Williams

February 25th, 2017 at 12:42pm CST by Milo Taibi

February 25: The Pelicans have now signed Williams to a 10-day contract. The club formally announced the addition in a press release on their official website.

February 24: The Pelicans will waive Omri Casspi and use his roster spot to sign Reggie Williams, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). Casspi, acquired from Sacramento alongside DeMarcus Cousins, suffered a broken thumb in his team debut on Thursday.

Justin Verrier of ESPN initially reported Casspi would miss 4-to-6 weeks with the injury (Twitter link). According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Pelicans felt Casspi’s absence would leave them short-handed on the wing in midst of a playoff hunt. The decision to cut Casspi wasn’t an easy one, as GM Dell Demps resisted the temptation to flip Casspi leading up to the deadline (Twitter links).

If Casspi doesn’t play another game in 2016/17, he’ll have finished the year averaging 6.1 points through a career-low 23 games. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical points out, the Pelicans are only responsible for $906K of Casspi’s salary, unless he’s claimed on waivers (Twitter link).

The 30-year-old Williams appeared in five games with the Pelicans in December, recording 25 points in that span. A veteran of five NBA teams, Williams averaged 18.2 points this season with the D-League’s Oklahoma City Blue. A lifetime 36.6% 3-point shooter, Williams will supplant Casspi as a long distance threat off New Orleans’ bench.

Omri Casspi Breaks Thumb, Out 4-6 Weeks

February 24th, 2017 at 1:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

FEBRUARY 24: The Pelicans have confirmed the diagnosis on Casspi, announcing today (via Twitter) that the veteran forward will be sidelined for four to six weeks as his thumb heals.

FEBRUARY 23: Omri Casspi broke his right thumb tonight in his first game with the Pelicans since Monday’s trade, tweets Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Doctors are projecting that the injury will sideline him for four to six weeks (Twitter link).

Casspi was sent from Sacramento to New Orleans along with DeMarcus Cousins in a five-player deal. His injury capped an overall bad night for the Pelicans, who suffered a 30-point loss to Houston in front of a sold-out Smoothie King Center. Casspi played 23 minutes and scored 12 points before being hurt. New Orleans was counting on him to provide some wing depth after shipping Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway to the Kings.

Casspi is making $3MM this season in the final year of his contract, so he is a candidate to be waived or bought out if the Pelicans don’t want to wait for his return. New Orleans waived Lance Stephenson in a similar situation in November when the team felt like it needed a healthy player.

The Pelicans filled one final roster spot today when they signed Hollis Thompson to a 10-day contract, but opened another when they waived Terrence Jones.

Kings Trade DeMarcus Cousins To Pelicans

February 20th, 2017 at 2:20pm CST by Austin Kent

FEBRUARY 20: The trade is official, according to press release issued by the Kings and Pelicans. Sacramento has waived Matt Barnes to clear room for the extra incoming player.

“It was time for a change and I decided this was the best direction for the organization,” Kings GM Vlade Divac said in a statement. “Winning begins with culture and character matters. With the upcoming draft class set to be one of the strongest in a decade, this trade will allow us to build the depth needed for a talented and developing roster moving forward. We thank DeMarcus for his contributions and wish him all the best in New Orleans. The fans in Sacramento are the best in the world and we are all committed to building a team that will continue to make Sacramento proud.”

For more notes, reactions, and details on the deal, check out our posts from earlier today, plus our initial Sunday report below.

FEBRUARY 19: After publicly vowing earlier this season that he wouldn’t be moved, the Kings have agreed to trade DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets that the deal consists of Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, New Orleans’ 2017 first-round pick (top-three protected), and Philadelphia’s 2017 second-round pick going to Sacramento, with Cousins and Omri Casspi heading to New Orleans. David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link) initially reported that the Kings would also get a 2019 first-rounder, but he has since issued a correction, tweeting that New Orleans balked at the Kings’ request to include that pick.

Earlier this evening, news broke that the Kings and Pelicans had engaged in discussions about a possible Cousins deal. At the time, it was reported by Scotto that the standout center could potentially be shipped to New Orleans in exchange for a package involving Hield, a 2017 first-round pick and an additional first-round pick. Later, in an article published at The Vertical, Wojnarowski suggested that expiring contracts could also be involved.

Following the first report, Wojnarowski tweeted that Kings general manager Vlade Divac had formally presented what the front office believed to be the two best trade proposals to team owner Vivek Ranadive. Previously, despite concerns throughout the organization about Cousins’ temperament, Ranadive was intent on holding onto the franchise pillar, and Divac had publicly reiterated that stance.

For the Kings, it’s an abrupt about-face, and it’s fair to wonder if Divac’s public and private declarations that Cousins wouldn’t be moved will hurt his credibility with agents and players in the future, as Wojnarowski tweets.

Over the last several hours, other teams, including the Suns and Lakers, were linked to the Kings’ Cousins talks, though the discussions with New Orleans were viewed as the most serious. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter links), the Lakers balked at Sacramento’s asking price and opted against including Brandon Ingram in a package.

Ultimately, the Kings aren’t getting a massive haul in return for their All-NBA big man, though it’s worth noting that several pre-draft reports back in June indicated that the team was very high on Hield. Still, it’s surprising that the former Oklahoma sharpshooter and a draft pick that may not even end up in the lottery are the centerpieces of a Cousins deal. Howard Beck of Bleacher Report tweets there wasn’t much of a market for the All-Star big man, according to several executives.

The deal also isn’t necessarily great news for Cousins, who will now be ineligible to receive a Designated Veteran Extension this summer. The 26-year-old would have met the criteria for a new deal worth 35% of the cap if he remained in Sacramento, and there were indications in recent weeks that both sides were on board with the idea of getting something done. Now that he’s changing teams, Cousins will be eligible for a far more modest extension.

Cousins’ agent Jarinn Akana suggested earlier today that his client wasn’t likely to sign an extension this summer with any team that traded for him, as ESPN’s Marc Stein reported (Twitter links). However, that could have been a negotiating tactic — if teams were worried about their ability to re-sign Cousins, they may have been reluctant to trade for him, in which case he would’ve remained with the Kings and been eligible for a super-max deal. For what it’s worth, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets that the Pelicans are confident that they can ultimately lock up Cousins to a new contract. If New Orleans can’t extend Cousins prior to free agency, he’ll hit the open market in 2018.

In recent weeks, the Pelicans had been linked to centers such as Jahlil Okafor and Brook Lopez as they dangled a first-round pick in an effort to find a frontcourt partner for Anthony Davis. The team had reportedly been offering its 2018 pick, having been reluctant to move its first-rounder in 2017, given this year’s strong draft class. However, it makes sense that New Orleans was willing to change course for a player of Cousins’ caliber.

With Cousins and Davis in the frontcourt, the Pelicans will feature two of the league’s very best big men. Cousins, who was named to the All-NBA second team last year, has arguably been even better in 2016/17, averaging a career-high 27.8 PPG to go along with 10.7 RPG and 4.9 APG. His presence on the Pelicans’ roster may have an impact on Jrue Holiday‘s decision in free agency this summer. Holiday is on an expiring deal, but Davis has been lobbying the veteran point guard to re-sign with New Orleans.

This move will also have draft-related ramifications for the Sixers and Bulls. Chicago had been in line to receive Sacramento’s first-round pick in 2017 if it fell outside of the top 10. With Cousins no longer on their roster though, the Kings seem likely to slip in the standings, which is bad news for the Bulls. Chicago will receive a 2017 second-rounder from the Kings if Sacramento’s first-rounder falls in the top 10.

As for the Sixers, they’ll have the option to swap first-round picks with Sacramento if the Kings retain their selection. As our 2016/17 Reverse Standings show, Philadelphia currently has the league’s fifth-worst record, while the Kings rank 11th, but things are tight enough that those spots could flip quickly.

For the deal to become official, the Kings will have to remove at least one more player from their roster, via release or trade. The team is also considered likely to waive Galloway after acquiring him, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The third-year guard needed to be included in the swap for salary-matching purposes.

In other cap-related housekeeping notes, Evans’ deal includes a 15% trade kicker, which will add an extra $458K to his salary. The Pelicans will pay that trade bonus, though it will be charged to Sacramento’s cap. Each team will create a modest trade exception in the deal as well — the Kings’ TPE should be worth Casspi’s salary ($2.963MM), while the Pelicans’ TPE should be worth Hield’s salary ($3.517MM)

Luke Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Notes: Cousins, McLemore, Casspi, Richardson

February 5th, 2017 at 11:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Kings GM Vlade Divac should be calling all interested parties to make the best possible deal for DeMarcus Cousins before the February 23rd deadline, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Voisin argues that the franchise doesn’t have enough assets in place to build a contender around Cousins, who will become a free agent in the summer of 2018, and mentions the Celtics, Lakers, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Suns and Magic as possible destinations. Phoenix owns two first-round picks from Miami and has $13MM in available cap space, and GM Ryan McDonough has said he wants to acquire a star. Voisin believes the Kings should insist that Devin Booker be part of any deal with the Suns.

There’s more news out of Sacramento:

Injuries to Rudy Gay and Garrett Temple have given fourth-year shooting guard Ben McLemore another chance to prove himself, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. McLemore returned to the Kings’ starting lineup Friday after losing that position last month and put up a season-high 18 points. He is hoping to finish the season strong before heading into free agency this summer. “Once I knew I was going to get the starting spot, I knew I was prepared,” McLemore said. “But now I’ve just got to go out there and perform and not worry about making mistakes and stuff like that. I’ve been working real hard, and it showed out there on the floor [Friday].”
The Kings expect to be without forward Omri Casspi until after the All-Star break, according to Matt Kawahara of The Sacramento Bee. Casspi was projected to miss one or two weeks after straining the plantaris tendon in his right calf during a January 16th practice. He was re-evaluated last week and hoped to play this weekend, but coach Dave Joerger said Saturday that the return could take much longer. “I don’t think we’re going to see Omri ’til after the All-Star break,” Joerger said. “That could change, but we’d rather be a little conservative with him.” Casspi has appeared in just 22 games this season, averaging 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds.
The injuries have also created an expanded role for first-round pick Malachi Richardson, writes James Ham of CSNBayArea. Richardson has spent much of the season in the D-League, but has been used by Joerger in the past eight games.

Pacific Notes: Casspi, Paul, Griffin, Nance

January 17th, 2017 at 6:05pm CST by Austin Kent

The Kings will be without forward Omri Casspi for up to two weeks, writes Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee. Casspi injured his calf on Monday and underwent an MRI later that night.

Said to have strained the plantaris tendon in his right calf, Casspi will look to get back to action as soon as possible in an effort to reclaim his spot in the team’s rotation. Casspi has seen his role fluctuate over the course of the season and has appeared in just six of the Kings’ last 15 games.

In 22 games for the Kings this year, Casspi has averaged 5.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

Another injury has hit the Clippers, this time point guard Chris Paul. After leaving Monday’s game with a thumb injury, Paul underwent a basic X-Ray which came back negative. The guard was scheduled to have an MRI performed on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury. “That’s the one injury we get,” head coach Doc Rivers told Rowan Kavner of the Clippers’ official site. “You know the pain. I’m sure CP was thinking the worst at the time. He’s already got pretty good news with the normal X-ray being negative. You’ve just got to hope for the best.”
Fortunately for the Clippers, good news continues to trickle in about Blake Griffin. “He looks like he’s explosive again,” Rivers told “He looks like he’s explosive again.” Per Woike, Griffin is expected to travel with the team on a three-game road trip starting on Saturday.
It seemed as though Larry Nance Jr. was nearing his return to the court for the Lakers, but head coach Luke Walton isn’t so sure. “It doesn’t look like he’s going to be back at least this week,” Walton told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Later adding: “If he can do two straight practices without pain, he’ll be good to play.”
The Warriors broke ground on their new arena today and team owner Joe Lacob spoke about the organization’s decision to fund the project themselves via increased ticket sales, increased sponsorship and other new revenue streams. “I don’t want to criticize other owners or other teams, in our league or anywhere else. But there is a history of these leagues getting these things publicly financed,” Lacob told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “[…] I know that wasn’t going to happen here, just because it’s the Bay Area. I decided, ‘We’re just going to do it and we’re going to figure out a way to pay for it.’“

Kings Notes: Cousins, Casspi, Gay, Stauskas

November 30th, 2016 at 7:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings coach Dave Joerger has gone back to a bigger starting lineup in an effort to improve the team’s defense, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Kosta Koufos is back with the starters, being used at center with DeMarcus Cousins at power forward. Joerger briefly tried a small-ball starting lineup, but wasn’t satisfied with the results. “I’m trying to protect DeMarcus a little bit by letting Kosta take the hits on a bigger guy like [Washington Wizards center Marcin] Gortat,” Joerger said. “And defensively more pick-and-rolls and try to save [Cousins’] legs for the end.”

There’s more news out of Sacramento:

Cousins continues to put up incredible numbers, averaging 28.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per night, but the Kings need more production from their complementary players, writes James Ham of CSNBayArea. “We’ve just got to be better,” Omri Casspi said after Monday’s overtime loss at Washington. “Our bench guys and our role players have to do a better job of helping DeMarcus. It feels like he’s doing anything he can to win the game for us. We’ve just got to be better.”
Rudy Gay confirmed that he has left Octagon Basketball, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Gay, who has suggested that he won’t be re-signing with Sacramento after he becomes a free agent next summer, may be joining Roc Nation, an agency headed by rapper Jay Z (Twitter link). However, he told Jones that the change isn’t related to his impending free agency (Twitter link).
Nik Stauskas says it doesn’t bother him to hear that the Kings feel like they should have drafted someone else in 2014, Jones posts on Facebook. Owner Vivek Ranadive recently told Amick that he preferred Magic guard Elfrid Payton over Stauskas as the No. 8 pick. “Like I said, they did me a favor sending me here to Philadelphia,” Stauskas replied. “I’ve had a really good opportunity to play even though I hadn’t been performing though my first year with the Sixers. I’m thankful that the organization gave me an opportunity, they drafted me, but if they felt like the made a mistake by drafting me then they felt like they made a mistake. I can’t do anything about it now.”

Omri Casspi’s Reps Quietly Exploring Trade Market

November 23rd, 2016 at 4:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Omri Casspi enjoyed a career year in 2015/16 under George Karl and his fast-paced system, but things have slowed down in Sacramento this season under new head coach Dave Joerger. With Casspi spending plenty of time on the bench for Joerger and the Kings, his agents have “quietly been making inquiries” around the NBA about a potential trade, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee.

Voisin stresses that Casspi has not requested a trade, but writes that the veteran forward is “clearly” miserable, and would likely welcome a change of scenery. For what it’s worth, Casspi’s comments to reporters suggest he believes a trade is a possibility. After having said last week that he “might be somewhere else,” he again alluded to the possibility of getting playing time somewhere besides Sacramento, as Voisin details.

“The team is trying to figure out its identity,” Casspi said. “I understand that. But I really wanted to be part of building something special here. The fans have been through hell and high water. They are incredible. They get me going. Hopefully, I will still be part of it. I think I can fit in. The system is a lot like Michael Malone’s, and I adjusted. But I want to play. I need to play. If not here, then somewhere.”

Casspi, 28, averaged a career-high 11.8 PPG last season, and established new career bests in several other categories as well, including RPG (5.9), 3PT% (.409), and 3PT (1.6). This year, he has only appeared in six games for the Kings, averaging just 15.3 MPG and 4.3 PPG in those contests.

The trade market likely won’t pick up until at least mid-December, and it’s possible that Casspi will get a longer look from Joerger and start earning more consistent minutes by then. But if things continue as they have over the season’s first month, Casspi figures to be one of a handful of trade candidates this winter for the Kings. Rudy Gay and Kosta Koufos have also been the subject of trade rumors in Sacramento, while Willie Cauley-Stein and DeMarcus Cousins are among the longer shots to be moved by the team.

Aldridge’s Latest: Hornets, CBA, Seattle, Casspi

November 21st, 2016 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hornets had several players eligible for free agency in the summer of 2016, and while they lost some players, such as Courtney Lee and Jeremy Lin, they were able to re-sign key pieces like Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, much to the relief of Kemba Walker.

“I was nervous as hell,” Walker told David Aldridge of NBA.com. “I didn’t want to lose those guys. I knew we couldn’t pay everyone. I wish we could have gotten a lot of the guys back, but unfortunately, the way this business works is it can’t happen all the time. Nic and Marv were high priority … I got a chance to go out to Dallas and be a part of Nic’s meeting. Me and [Michael Kidd-Gilchrist] flew out. It was super cool. We got a chance to sit in the room and say a few words.”

General manager Rich Cho admits the team was worried about potentially losing Batum. As Aldridge details, teams like the Mavericks and Wizards were interested in the veteran forward, but the Hornets didn’t want him to take a meeting with another team — and he didn’t.

Here’s more from Aldridge:

Barring any last-minute complications, the NBA and the NBPA will likely reach an official agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement during the week of December 5, reports Aldridge. The league and the union will likely take the week after Thanksgiving to make sure everyone’s up to speed on the new deal before formally announcing it.
According to Aldridge, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson approached Chris Hansen and his investment group about getting involved in the Seattle arena project, rather than vice versa. While it may still be years before a new Seattle arena is built, Wilson’s cache and his willingness to invest in the project should only help, Aldridge writes.
While there’s no indication that they have interest, Aldridge believes the Wizards should look into trading for Omri Casspi, who has fallen out of favor in Sacramento. Casspi told Matt George of Cowbell Kingdom that he and Kings head coach Dave Joerger haven’t spoken since the preseason.