The Warriors need Omri Casspi
The Golden State Warriors should pursue free agent Omri Casspi who would give them depth and another shooter to space the floor.
The Golden State Warriors have two of the greatest shooters ever. They have three if you count a healthy Kevin Durant and his incredible marksmanship for a player of his size. They are third in three-point percentage. Despite this, they need more shooting.
The Warriors have six players shooting over 36 percent from three. One of those six is David West, who is two of five from beyond the arc. Another is Andre Iguodala, who shot an incredible (and uncharacteristic) 56.7 percent from deep in January.
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Golden State, without Durant out, have just two reliable three-point shooters. Even then, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have struggled as of late. Curry is missing wide open shots that even poor shooters can knock down.
When Steve Kerr turns to his bench with some combination of Shaun Livingston, Iguodala, David West, JaVale McGee, the spacing isn’t great. The offense has had trouble getting good looks when Curry goes to the bench. They could use someone else that can put the ball in the basket.
The Warriors are extremely top heavy. That’s bound to happen when you have so many stars. The Cleveland Cavaliers–with their trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love–are also top heavy.
Unlike the Cavs, however, the Warriors do not carry vets with defined roles at the end of their bench. Instead, they chose to keep projects on board. Patrick McCaw, James Michael McAdoo, Kevon Looney, and Damian Jones are all works in progress that aren’t ready to really contribute right now. Even Ian Clark, who has been mostly solid, is inconsistent.
The Warriors need someone who’s more NBA-ready at the power forward position. They also need someone who can space the floor. Golden State should go after Omri Casspi.
The 6’9 forward is shooting over 39 percent from beyond the arc this season. He’s averaging 12 points per game in 18 minutes. He’s the ideal stretch four for the Warriors.
Casspi has the ability to get hot in an instant–Warriors fans know this all too well. He’d fit in perfectly with the Warriors, giving them another shooter to give the slashers room to operate. He’s also better than anything they have.
He was traded to New Orleans in the DeMarcus Cousins trade. Casspi was then waived after he fractured his right thumb. He’s now ready to play again.
The Warriors would have to let someone go to make room for Casspi. In a perfect world, it would be Looney. He hasn’t shown anything that proves he deserves to be on an NBA court. With multiple hip surgeries, he’s probably not going to last.
Looney is under contract until 2020 so they probably aren’t going to let him go. Next in line would be James Michael McAdoo. He’s been a little bit better, but he’s incredibly inconsistent and his low points are extremely low.
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He’s a free agent next season. While Steve Kerr seems to like him, he’s not better than Casspi. McAdoo is, admittedly, much more mobile than other Warriors’ bigs, but he can’t shoot. He often looks like a deer caught in headlights.
The Warriors need to go after Casspi hard. First and foremost because he’ll make them better. Secondly, they can’t afford to let him go to a team they could face in the playoffs like the Houston Rockets or the Memphis Grizzlies.