Young wing Cedi Osman will be in his third season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019-20, and here’s how he can continue on an upward trajectory.
Cedi Osman came into 2018-19 as a relative unknown for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His rookie season in 2017-18, he was relegated to the bench behind a guy named LeBron James, and even in times when Osman was getting meaningful minutes, James’ presence still seemed to keep Osman’s impact relatively minimal.
After James’ departure, pictures surfaced on Twitter of Osman working out with James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard, among others.
Simply put, Osman knew he had a chance to play starter’s minutes and he was going to take advantage (the original tweeted picture of Osman’s workout crew was courtesy of ESPN’s Marc J. Spears).
Apparently there was an interesting workout at UCLA today... pic.twitter.com/WglSlSec1a
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 21, 2018
Osman’s first year playing starter’s minutes had ups and downs last season, but for the most part, would be categorized as a success (at least offensively).
“The First Cedi” averaged 13.0 points on 50.4% effective field goal shooting, to go with 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and he also shot 34.8% from three-point range (per Basketball Reference).
Osman has set a good foundation.
For him to have a successful season in 2019-20, here are three goals the Turkish swingman can achieve, starting with better perimeter shooting efficiency.
#1: Improve his three-point shooting clip on a similar volume to last year
Osman’s 34.8% hit rate on 4.9 attempts per game last season from beyond the arc was respectable, especially when the bulk of the season the Cavs were without Kevin Love, their best overall player. Without Love, the Cavs did not have an established go-to scoring option and relied heavily on rookie Collin Sexton, Osman and Jordan Clarkson off the bench to create individual offense.
This season, things should hopefully be different. If Love can stay reasonably healthy, that should open things up for Sexton, as well as rookie Darius Garland. Hopefully, this will lead to more drive-and-kicks to Osman for open looks.
More from King James Gospel
- 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
- The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
- 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
- 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
- This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
Last year, Osman took 44.3% of his shots from beyond the arc (per Basketball Reference). If that number stays close to the same, the 24-year-old wing will need to continue to improve his shooting stroke.
As mentioned above, hopefully, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have more weapons on offense. That includes Love and Sexton, but also Garland and fellow rookies Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler.
With less pressure and more scoring threats on the floor, Osman should hopefully get more open looks, and it will be important that he converts on those attempts often.
#2: Expand his paint scoring repertoire
Osman does take a high percentage of shots from beyond the arc, but the majority of them still came from inside the arc, and primarily from within 10 feet of the basket. On shots 0-3 feet from the rim, though, Osman 60.3% last year, but on shots between 3-10 feet, he only hit 33.0% (per Basketball Reference).
While Osman doesn’t shoot a ton of shots from the 3-10 foot range (a frequency of 11.8% last year, per Basketball Reference) improving his hit rate in that area could go a long way, and make him less predictable when he’s a driver, where he seems to be erratic and seemingly rush into off-balance shots at times, which is understandable for a young player.
Osman is not the most athletic player in the NBA and he does not finish at the basket particularly well at a high volume.
It would behoove Osman to develop a floater or better short pull-up jumper as an added weapon. A good floater is hard to defend, as one could just ask former Cavs guard Mo Williams or current Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova.
Osman improving his finishing ability while adding a more consistent short-to-near-mid-range floater could help him score in an efficient manner to counter three-point shooting.
#3: Further solidify his spot in the starting rotation
This may not be a particularly statistics-driven goal, but it is important for Osman to fend off the rookies who are coming for his minutes at small forward. This isn’t to say Osman would be an ineffective sixth man or primarily-bench playmaker, but Osman’s game benefits more than other alternatives from playing with other top scoring options.
In addition, a continued spot in Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein and the coaching staff’s starting rotation would indicate effective play for Osman.
Perhaps the most likely suitor coming for Osman’s job is Windler.
Windler was a knock-down shooter in college at Belmont (as he shot 40.6% from three-point range over four seasons, per Sports Reference) and was a really good rebounder as well, as he had 10.8 boards per game in his senior season and had 7.8 per game for his career (again, per Sports Reference).
Osman will need to fend off Windler with his play and primarily his shooting ability, mixed in with better defensive awareness, of course; we’ve touched on how Osman struggled on defense last year here at KJG, but he was often out of position due to Cleveland’s injuries, though.
Furthermore, if Osman is going to continue to develop into the solid piece he could be going forward, he needs to continue to earn starter’s minutes in 2019-20.