Forward Omri Casspi played a career-high 27.2 minutes per game for the Sacramento Kings last season, and also shot a career-best 40.9% from three-point range. His four downtown attempts per game were the most of his career as well. This season, under a new head coach, Casspi finds himself essentially out of the rotation, for reasons unbeknownst to him. From Matt George of Cowbell Kingdom:
“Last year, I started a majority of the games and I was guarding the best threes and fours night in and night out,” Casspi told Cowbell Kingdom when asked about being called a defensive liability. “The easy way out when you are a player like me is to call it defense. I don’t remember any guy going off on me last year.”
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Earlier this week, head coach Dave Joerger held a team meeting to announce his permanent rotation going forward. Casspi was nowhere on it. He was asked if he had gotten any kind of explanation or one-on-one time with Joerger.
“We haven’t talked since preseason. It was a team-wide meeting only,” Casspi said.
Neither party has approached one another to discuss Casspi’s lack of minutes, however he reassured that he hasn’t stopped working hard.
When asked about it, coach Dave Joerger dismissed the idea of playing Casspi more:
“You want me to give him some of Rudy’s minutes? Yeah, that’s not happening,” Joerger said.
In recent weeks, Casspi found himself in the middle of trade rumors, which he quickly shut down.
This season for the Kings, Casspi has averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game and has connected on just two of his nine three-point attempts.
Casspi has only played in six of the Kings’ 13 games and has appeared in just one of their last five.
