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Just past midnight Sunday, Marc Stein of the Times tweeted out that the Warriors had cut Omri Casspi, their 6’9” forward, so they could add Quinn Cook, who’s been starting in place of Steph Curry. In his tweet, Stein added a twist: Casspi had almost joined the Nets last summer...
Very harsh numbers game catches up to Omri Casspi, who league sources say turned down more lucrative interest last summer from Brooklyn to go for a ring on a minimum deal in Golden State, only to be forced out when the Warriors had to manufacture a roster spot by Sunday for Cook
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 8, 2018
The Warriors’ decision, Stein added, wasn’t about Casspi’s production. In limited minutes, he had averaged 5.7 points a game, starting seven games when Kevin Durant went down. The 29-year-old shot 58 percent overall and 45.5 percent from deep.
Instead, the Warriors have a surplus of bigs.
The Warriors, I'm told, badly wanted to avoid this outcome but also felt that they need to keep all of their bigs (Zaza, West, JaVale, Looney and Damion Jones) for the postseason grind to come
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 8, 2018
There was no hint last summer of any serious Nets interest in the NBA’s first and only Israeli On Sunday, Stein revealed that Casspi “spurned interest from the Nets, who were poised to pay him closer to $5 million this season.” He certainly could have fit neatly into the Nets system and culture.
Now, the question is, will Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson be interested in Casspi this summer. If they had a roster opening —they don’t— they could claim him off waivers, but that doesn’t give them any real advantage in free agency.
As for next year, the Nets do have another veteran forward who they like in Dante Cunningham and DeMarre Carroll has played his best ball in years, if not ever. Then, again, they went into this season with additional bigs in Trevor Booker and Tyler Zeller.
Casspi could also go back to Europe, but he’s likely to have some suitors this summer in the NBA. Will the Nets be one of them?
- Omri Casspi a Casualty of Golden State’s Numbers Game - Marc Stein - New York Times