Link to highlights
Link to career stats
1) Cassell was smart and steady, but it’s important to state up front that he was far more valuable than a casual fan can tell from his stats, accomplishments, or highlights. Cassell was a great leader and tremendously clutch, and he made quite the impact on his teammates and in the playoffs.
2) His clutch performances began in college when he led FSU in ‘93 to their best season in the past 50 years, and he hit a big-time 3-pointer in OT of the 3rd round to lift his team into the Elite Eight. As a rookie in '94, Cassell backed up Kenny Smith but was usually on the court at the end of tight games. In the playoffs, his role increased significantly as he took more of Smith’s minutes and he did things like a) having a huge Game 7 off the bench in the WCSF, and b) then taking over the final 35 seconds of Game 3 of the Finals. In ‘95, Cassell again got much better in the postseason to help Houston win another title.
3) Cassell suffered numerous injuries over the next few seasons, bouncing around teams, including helping the resurgent Bucks nearly make it to the Finals in ‘00. He landed in Minnesota for ‘04, and this turned out to be Cassell’s best individual season. He averaged 20 ppg, 7 apg, and nearly had 50-40-90 shooting splits (.488/.398/.873) completing the “Big 3” beside Garnett and Latrell Sprewell. Cassell was named to his only All-Star and All-NBA teams, but more importantly his leadership and steadying presence was huge for the Timberwolves who had their best season ever (58-24, 1st in the West), and it was the only time they made it past the first round. Minnesota got to the WCF, where they lost in 6 to the Lakers, but that only happened because Cassell was hurt and barely played that series. If he was healthy, the T-Wolves would have been in the Finals in an absolute bloodbath with the Pistons. During that postseason, Cassell twice scored 40 points, the two highest scoring playoff games by a player in franchise history. Not Kevin Garnett. Not Anthony Edwards. Sam Cassell, in his only full season with the team.
4) He then went to the Clippers for the ‘06 season, and he single-handedly changed the culture of that team. They hadn’t been to the playoffs in forever and had never won a postseason series, but Cassell was immediately the hardest working and most focused player in practice, which raised the effort of everyone else. It’s no coincidence this was Elton Brand’s best season and the year Chris Kaman got decent, plus LA suddenly surpassed all expectations and got into the playoffs and made it to the 2nd round.
5) The Celtics signed 38-year-old Cassell near the end of the '08 season, wanting to add his veteran leadership to a team that was ripping through the league (66-16), heading toward a title. He played in only 17 regular season games for Boston and then 21 playoff games in his final season, teaming up with KG one last time and winning a ring. Paul Pierce later said that he felt he, KG, and Cassell were the real “Big 3” on the Celtics. Obviously Pierce was throwing some shade at Ray Allen, but I’m willing to bet Cassell was a lot more of a leader in Boston during those playoffs than most fans know.
6) Everywhere Cassell played for any significant time–Houston, NJ, Milwaukee, Minnesota, LA–got better with him and worse when he left or got injured. His mentality and understanding of the game was a big part of why he became a highly sought-after and respected assistant coach in the years since his playing days.
7) He was a great mid-range shooter and a very good FT shooter, often ranking top-20 in FT%, his most consistently high stat.
8) Cassell was part of the "so much missed potential" 1993 Draft (Webber, Anfernee, Baker, Mashburn, Rider, etc.), and Cassell actually has the most career Win Shares and highest WS/48 efficiency of everyone in that draft. There's no way this should have happened, but it kind of makes sense in retrospect that he's arguably the best player from a rather exciting draft.
