10 players you forgot played for the Minnesota Timberwolves: Omri Casspi
- Played in 13 games with the Wolves in 2016-17
- Averaged 3.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game
Omri Casspi has bounced around the NBA since 2009 and has frequently been a part-time starter and primary bench player, but never appeared in a playoff game.
Casspi was part of the 2009 draft that saw Ricky Rubio land in Minnesota. He was drafted No. 23 by Sacramento and spent two years with the Kings. Then, two years in Cleveland, a year as a fringe rotation player in Houston, and then back to Sacramento for two-and-a-half more seasons.
He was part of the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans in 2017 but broke his thumb in his first game with the Pelicans. He was waived and caught on with the Wolves after he recovered. Casspi played in 13 games over the final weeks of the season with the Wolves.
This was Thibodeau’s first season, and the Wolves were on their way to a 31-51 campaign. For as many moves as Thibs made during his second year at the helm, he made minimal changes to the roster in his first calendar year. Casspi’s signing was an encouraging signal to Wolves fans; while a small, inconsequential move, Casspi is a legitimate NBA player who could contribute defensively and is an above-average 3-point shooter.
Alas, Casspi made just 2-of-10 3-point attempts in Minnesota and walked in free agency that summer, hooking on with the Golden State Warriors. Casspi’s bad luck and poor timing continued, however, and he was waived during the final week of the regular season, just prior to the Warriors’ run to a third title in four years.
Casspi played the 2018-19 season with Memphis before heading back to Israel in the fall of 2019. If he’s done playing in the United States, he had a strong, 11-year NBA career as a solid role player. Unfortunately, despite playing on a few good teams, Casspi never had the good fortune of staying in a team’s rotation during the playoffs.