Should the Miami Heat sign free agent Omri Casspi?

Free agent forward Omri Casspi is reportedly drawing interest from a number of teams. Should the Miami Heat become involved, as well?

Omri Casspi isn’t a household name. In fact, his only claim to fame may be as an answer to a basketball trivia question, as the first Israeli-born player to make it to the NBA.

Regardless, despite his nondescript career to this point, he’s a solid role player. Casspi is a 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 11.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 three-pointers in 2015-16, on 40.9 percent shooting from deep.

Most recently, he was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans for one game (he came over in the Demarcus Cousins deal), before injuring his thumb. Casspi was subsequently released, as New Orleans’ roster was left thin post the Cousins trade, and they couldn’t afford to hold an injured player for two months.

As it turns out, Casspi’s thumb ailment was not as serious as originally thought. And now, the veteran is drawing interest from multiple playoff teams. From ESPN’s Marc Stein:

The two main teams interested, as mentioned by Stein, are the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Clippers. Makes sense; both are playoff teams in need of more firepower on the wing. (It seems like The Clippers have been “one wing away” from contention since Chris Paul arrived.)

Should the Miami Heat join the sweepstakes for the free agent forward, as well?

Casspi as a player and not a trivia question answer

Casspi is a player with various nice qualities.

For his career, he’s an above average three-point shooter, at 36.9 percent from deep. What’s more, over the past three seasons, that number has improved to 40.6 percent on 2.5 attempts per game.

Shooting aside, Casspi is a guy who plays with a lot of energy and has a high-basketball IQ. He’s an above average defender on the wing, with the size to play some small-ball power forward if needed.

He is also an avid cutter, who is effective around the basket. Casspi finishes 56 percent of his attempts from within five feet of the rim, a higher rate than Kevin Love, and just behind Paul George.

And although his assist numbers are low for his career (1.2 per game on average), he tends to make the smart pass when it presents itself.

Think of Casspi as a younger version of the departed Luol Deng. Not Deng the small forward, but rather the stretch-4 he became after the team picked up Joe Johnson. Deng’s move to the Los Angeles Lakers may have ended his career, but that doesn’t change how effective he was as a small-ball power forward for Miami. Casspi would fit wonderfully in the same role.

Would a player of that caliber be enough to convince Pat Riley to expedite the release of Chris Bosh? After all, the team won’t have a roster spot available until they waive him.

Tough to tell, but what’s clear is that Casspi would be an upgrade over Luke Babbitt. Babbitt’s hot shooting recently has been great, but Casspi is adept from beyond the arc too, and he’s also much more versatile, on both ends.

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Nonetheless, it’s doubtful Miami makes the move, but it’s an interesting possibility that we’ll be sure to keep track of.