What’s fair to expect from Cedi Osman for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season?
Cedi Osman is now heading into his fourth season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 11.0 points per game and shot 38.3% from three-point range last season.
He was also awarded a contract extension at the beginning of that season that could keep him from being a free agent until 2024. Albeit his compensation for the fourth season of that extension in 2023-2024 is non-guaranteed.
At 25 years old, he is entering an important season and should have the opportunity to show some improvements.
What should we look to see from Osman in Year 4, though?
Here are two things you can expect to see from Osman for the Cavs.
We’ll dive into the first next.
Realistic expectation #1: For Osman to still play 20-plus minutes per game for the Cavs and average double-digit scoring
Cedi is likely not going to start in the rotation with fifth overall pick Isaac Okoro edging him out. While both players looked good in preseason, this would seem to be Okoro’s battle to win.
Granted, Cedi could be in-line to start early, but regardless, I agree with KJG’s Dan Gilinsky; Osman won’t likely be Cleveland’s starting 3 for long if so.
In the past two seasons, however, Cedi has started and logged in 32.2 minutes per game in the 2018-19 season and 29.4 in the 2019-20 season.
At the end of this upcoming season, those numbers are bound to change with a likely decrease in usage. But, don’t expect this to be necessarily a drastic change.
Cedi had an impressive preseason recently and led the team by averaging 21.0 points per game.
It was preseason, sure, but this showed Cedi likely improved this offseason and is still a valuable player for the team going forward. While he may come off the bench, for the time being, Osman should still see plenty of time on the court.
His experience and well-rounded skill set offensively should serve the Cavaliers nicely.
Don’t expect a huge dip in minutes, and expect him to serve as a valuable rotation player who can start at various positions. This is something that will be touched on more in our second realistic expectation for Osman.
Realistic expectation #2: Expect to see Osman play multiple positions for the Cavs more frequently
The past two seasons the Cavaliers have been shallow at the small forward position and Cedi has had the starting job locked down for those two seasons.
This offseason Cleveland drafted Okoro fifth overall and also now has Dylan Windler set to make his regular season debut. Dylan, unfortunately, missed this past season after being taken in the 2019 first round.
It’s safe to say there’s more depth at small forward and Osman now has an opportunity to play more positions. Cedi is capable of playing multiple positions and has shown a lot of promise this preseason.
At 6-foot-7 Cedi can play power forward if needed and showed this by starting at power forward this preseason, although that’s not his most natural fit. And Osman did play more at the 4 actually than at the 3 in totality in Year 2, though that wasn’t ideal.
But with the addition of Andre Drummond last season and Isaac Okoro this most recent draft, the defense should be improved and help make this possible/allow Cedi to fit better at times there.
Cedi’s playmaking ability and improved shooting should also allow him to play more shooting guard in big lineups on occasion, feasibly with Larry Nance Jr. at the 3, which it seems we’ll see more of in 2020-21 after him doing that pre-hiatus.
Osman again shot 38.3 percent from deep compared to 34.8 percent the previous season. And Cedi hit 38.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot triple attempts in 2019-20, on a 41.2 percent frequency, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data.
Osman is still a valuable player, and with more depth at wing, you should expect to see him often still and play different positions frequently for the Cleveland Cavaliers.