Sources: Cavs' Omri Casspi requests trade
Dropped out of the Cleveland Cavaliers' rotation, forward Omri Casspi, the NBA's first Israeli-born player, has requested a trade, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Casspi has shown significant flashes of promise in his young career, but he has become an afterthought for the struggling Cavaliers since missing five games with gastroenteritis in December.
Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant has been making calls on possible deals for Casspi, but nothing has materialized. The request for a trade was made through Casspi's representatives with Creative Arts Agency (CAA), sources said.
Cleveland officials privately insist that no such request was made, but multiple league sources with knowledge say that CAA recently made the request. Per league rules, neither the agent nor Casspi can publicly make a trade request without being subject to league-mandated fines.
After starting 93 games in his first three seasons in the NBA, Casspi has played one minute for the Cavaliers since a Dec. 11 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
[Related: Euro League's Bobby Brown could be free agent this NBA season]
Casspi, 24, has averaged 8.4 points in his four-year NBA career.
Cleveland traded J.J. Hickson to the Sacramento Kings for Casspi and a protected first-round draft pick prior to the 2011 lockout.
Casspi was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, making him the first Israeli-born player chosen in the first-round and ultimately the first Israeli player in the league.
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