Potential role #3: Backup point forward?
In one of his first media availability sessions as the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, as the aforementioned Gilinsky touched on, Bickerstaff talked about how he wanted the Cavs to experiment with lineups the rest of the season.
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Osman’s name wasn’t brought up in that particular interview but, giving him some backup point guard minutes may be something that Bickerstaff looks to do.
Considering the Cavs have experimented with numerous lineups such as playing Nance Jr. at small forward and may look to have Porter Jr. play some point guard in the future, as Bickerstaff basically mentioned in that media availability before, Point Cedi isn’t an unrealistic idea.
Also, factoring in that Matthew Dellavedova is set to become a free agent at the end of this season (whenever that ultimately is) and with Exum’s injury concerns, the thought of Point Cedi could turn into reality.
After looking at everything that is stated above, I believe that Osman will be the starting small forward once again for at least the first month or so of the season in the next campaign for Cleveland.
My reasoning behind this prediction is that looking at the team, Porter Jr. seems to have the best chance at beating Osman out for that starting small forward spot.
The thing with KPJ is he has played a lot better as a shooting guard than he has as a small forward. Looking at the upcoming draft, players such as Edwards, Avdija and Auburn’s Isaac Okoro are all wing players that the Cavs could look to add if available at Cleveland’s selection, which should be very high, as the Cavs currently are projected to land the 2020 NBA Draft’s second overall pick, per Tankathon. Granted, I know the draft lottery rules are different and that’s anything but a certainty.
With all of these players though, it may be best for the Cavs to ease them in and have them come off the bench rather than just throwing them into the wolves and have them start right away.
Lastly, looking at free agency, there are multiple wing players with the ability to do what Osman does and then some. The problem is that the Cleveland Cavaliers, considering the state of the team and their location, are not a free agency destination and if they were to add players, they would have had to overpay for them.
At the beginning of the year, the Cavs were one of the few teams with a lot of projected cap space heading into the following free agency but, the trade for Drummond with the Detroit Pistons gives Cleveland a contract worth nearly 30 million dollars so any free agency plans that they may have had are now gone. I would imagine Drummond is very likely to opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season.
All in all, keeping Osman as the starting 3 may be the right move and having consistency helps to build team chemistry and improved chemistry can lead to more wins. The addition of Drummond also gives the notion that the Cavs will try to compete for the playoffs in this upcoming season.
If that’s the case, this is another reason as to why it would be wise to go with Osman over a potential draftee as the starting small forward, but down the road, I’d expect Osman to eventually be moved to the bench in favor of feasibly an upgrade after a potential draftee becomes more comfortable.