Cedi Osman, Rodney Hood injuries will test perimeter depth
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ perimeter depth may get a real test if Cedi Osman and Rodney Hood will miss multiple games with their respective injuries.
On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a bad night all around as they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first night of a back-to-back and lost two players due to injury. Rookie forward Cedi Osman (left hip strain) and Rodney Hood (lower back strain) left Friday’s game against the Clippers and didn’t return.
Hood has started the last three games for the Cavaliers at small forward while Osman started in nine games.
With their absences, which could be elongated (certainly in the case of Osman), the Cleveland Cavaliers wing depth will be tested. As of this writing, their only healthy wings are J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver and LeBron James. James, however, has been playing power forward in place of the injured Kevin Love.
Osman felt a “pop” in his groin for the second time this week, with the incident also occurring in Monday’s win against the Detroit Pistons. He left in the third quarter. Hood left the game halfway through the first quarter.
He’s the second player for the Cavaliers to miss some time with back strain, as forward Jeff Green also missed two games in the last two weeks dealing with a similar issue.
It’s a trying time for the Cavaliers, who are jostling for better seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs (currently 3rd-place in the East) with just 16 games remaining in the regular season and who already have two players out with injury in Love (fractured hand) and center Tristan Thompson (ankle sprain).
After a flurry of trades made by the Cleveland Cavaliers front office in mid-February resulted in a completely remodeled rotation for the Wine and Gold, they’ve also been dealing with the challenge of incorporating their new pieces and getting them up to speed on their system.
Now, the Cleveland Cavaliers may face the daunting task of finishing up the Western Road trip with a skeleton crew.
As for the on-court effects, it’s likely that Jose Calderon will get more time in order for Jordan Clarkson to play more off-ball. Korver and Smith will have more of a green light to shoot. Defensively, Korver and Clarkson in particular will have to step up in order to mimic the tight on-ball pressure that has been presented by Hood and Osman on the perimeter. Both players are better defenders than given credit for but it’s still going to be a challenge, especially as defensive stops have been key to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning games since the trade deadline.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers want a stop-gap solution, or just better depth in general, they’re certainly going to be looking at bringing in a wing player in the coming days. Names to look out for include Tony Allen, Matt Barnes and Dahntay Jones, three veteran players who have built their names in the league off of their defense and toughness but aren’t knockdown three-point shooters.
Of the three, Jones is the most likely to be signed thanks to the relationships he’s formed with the coaching staff and some of the current Cavs in the past couple of seasons while playing for the team during the playoffs. He’s had some memorable moments in his brief time with the Cavs as well.
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