When The Sacramento Kings decided to finally end the toxic relationship they had with center DeMarcus Cousins and ship the disgruntled star to the New Orleans Pelicans, the move sent shockwaves through the NBA. While Cousins and fellow Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis are still getting used to sharing the lane with each other, the Pels hopes of squeaking into the playoffs are looking grim. With Cousins and Davis setting the tone down low, New Orleans needs to spread the floor and while Jrue Holiday is a fine option at point guard, shooters are sparse in the Big Easy.
One piece that may have helped New Orleans make a run was forward Omri Casspi who was brought over in the Cousins trade but sustained a broken thumb in his first game with his new team. With the Pels and Casspi eventually parting ways, the sharpshooter has been working to get back and is now not far from being cleared to play. With Casspi’s potential return to the court looming, ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that there are some playoff teams out there interested in the Israeli’s services:
Free Agency news: League sources say swingman Omri Casspi is about a week or so away from clearance and drawing interest from playoff teams.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) March 10, 2017
With Casspi’s thumb almost being fully healed, it doesn’t come as a surprise that teams have him on their radar, especially teams that are playoff-bound. Though his numbers don’t jump off the page by any means, Casspi has always been a player able to provide ample length and three-point shooting off the bench, something every team covets. Even though his career with New Orleans was obviously cut short, he showed promise in his twenty-four minutes, scoring 12 points.
With the campaign coming to an end and plenty of playoff-bound teams fighting the injury bug, we could see Casspi donning a new uniform by the time the postseason rolls around.
