Grading the Cleveland Cavaliers wings so far this season
Taking a look at Cedi Osman’s play for the Cavs so far
Moving on to Cedi Osman. A reason for the Cavaliers needing to draft a wing player in the top five was the inability of Osman to lock down the role of being a quality two-way player. For as good as Osman has been on the offensive side of the ball, in which he’s had a solid 12.7 points and 3.1 assists per game, he has been quite the opposite of Okoro when it comes to defense.
That statement is evident by his net rating of -9.5. Osman has shown the ability to score the ball on catch and shoot three-point shots (he’s hit 37.9 percent of those on a 41.6 percent frequency, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data) and get into the teeth of the defense, and score.
He is almost the opposite of the aforementioned Okoro, in the sense that for what he can give the Cavaliers on offense, he will often give that back on the defensive side of the floor.
However, the role that Osman is playing now is where he fits into this rotation well.
He can come off the bench and provide that unit with an offensive spark, like when he scored 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out seven assists against the Nets.