For a second, it looked like Omri Casspi put himself on the trade block. But he pumped the brakes on those rumors very quickly.
From CSN Bay Area’s James Ham:
The rumor mill is never kind to the Sacramento Kings. On Friday it was Willie Cauley-Stein’s name who came up in potential moves. And on Saturday, multiple reports have veteran forward Omri Casspi requesting a trade from the city he has called home for the last three seasons.
But once again, this might be another case of much ado about nothing.
“Zero truth to that. Zero,” Casspi told CSN California via text.
According to multiple sources, Casspi’s agent met with the Kings this week to discuss his role with the team. But he did not request a trade at that time.
The initial chatter originated from a Sport5 article, as translated by Sportando, which stated the sharp-shooting forward wanted to be moved from the Sacramento Kings immediately.
It’s totally plausible, though, that he was just meeting with the team to discuss his role. His minutes and shooting numbers are down compared to last season, when he was the team’s most reliable three-point chucker, putting down more than 40 percent of his triples. The Kings are favoring a half-court offense under head coach Dave Joerger, and Casspi appears to have fallen by the wayside—though, to be fair, his field-goal clips aren’t doing him any favors.
Once the Kings fall out of the West’s playoff race completely, we can expect to hear rumors about everyone, so Casspi’s availability is something to keep on the back burner. He is earning $2.9 million this season and will be a free agent over the summer. The Kings won’t get a lot for him, but a contender in the market for shooting during the second half of the season might be willing to fork over a low-end pick or prospect.
