While an NBA players' strike continues, Omri Casspi already knows his plans for the upcoming season. If the strike ends before January he will join the Cleveland Cavaliers, but if not, then it is Maccabi Tel Aviv. "I was looking for certainty," he said. "I wanted to know what was next for me." Speaking for the first time about his agreement to possibly return to Maccabi Tel Aviv in January, Casspi said, "I have always wanted to play for Maccabi. Since I was 13 and started with the club, it has been my home. We looked for a win-win solution and David Federman, Maccabi management and I decided that January is the right time. It would not have been fair to join the team now and leave shortly afterward. You have to realize that if I had come and the strike had ended, two players would have been leaving Maccabi at the same time. We agreed that if the NBA does not reconvene by January it is probably not going to play this season and then I would stay in Maccabi till the end of the season. That way, my mind will be at ease and so will the team's. I am not looking for a short-lived adventure. It would not have been good for me or the team to join now." Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! Casspi, who has been training in Las Vegas for quite some time, said that an opportunity had arisen for him to play for Italy's Fabi Shoes Montegranaro team while waiting out the strike. "[Head coach Sharon] Drucker and I have been friends since our Maccabi days. He wanted me to come but there were technical problems on their side and I did not want to start playing for a team and then leave without having connected to the place. I decided it was better to stay here and work on myself until the NBA starts up again, or I join Maccabi." How badly are you itching to get back in the game? "I haven't played for seven months already and this has never happened to me before. I am dying to get back in the game. Had I played on Israel's national team it would have broken the dry spell but unfortunately that did not happen due to my injury. I really miss the game and am dying to feel that energy again." How is your injury? "It is better but it is one of those things you cannot get rid of that quickly. If the NBA season had started on time I am not sure I could have started with it." Casspi is following the NBA negotiations very closely, is well connected to the right people and once even spoke directly with National Basketball Players Association President Derek Fisher. "The sides have come a lot closer in recent days," he said with cautious optimism. "I believe that soon they will look for a solution that is good for everyone and we will get the show back on the road. The current situation is lose-lose for everyone." Yes, but several times now we have had the sense that the strike is about to end and it did not happen.
"This time things are looking good, but we are at a watershed moment. If things blow up again then there is no knowing what will happen."
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