Cedi Osman, the Cleveland Cavaliers swingman, has had a roller coaster of a career up to this point. He has experienced what it feels like to be near the top of the mountain alongside GOAT candidate Lebron James, and former All-Star Kevin Love in the NBA Finals. He has also been a part of a Cavs team that went just 19-63 in the season that followed.
That alone is more than many players experience during an entire career let alone just four seasons into one. He has had four different head coaches in that same span of time as well. One could assume that plays a critical role in the development process as Osman has had to adapt to the various coaching styles that have been presented to him.
There has been a seemingly endless supply of roster moves from that 2017-18 season up this point in his still young career which speaks to the level of chemistry both on and off the floor for Cleveland. This cannot be discounted either.
Before we go any further I just want to make something crystal clear. These are not by any means excuses for why he has seemed to fall out of the rotation, to a large extent, but they do perhaps provide some much-needed context into why his growth may have been stunted.
Still just 25 years old, Osman fits the Cavs timeline, but do they intend to keep him around going forward?
That is a question that may now have to wait until the end of the season to be answered. Osman, as KJG’s Dan Gilinsky hit on, was one of a handful of Cavaliers who were key players mentioned in trade rumors/reportedly made available leading up to the NBA trade deadline, but wasn’t moved. Clearly, the Macedonian wing wasn’t ultimately dealt, though.
That could simply be because the Cavs didn’t deem whatever compensation they would’ve received back in a deal worth it or….it could be a clear signal to Osman that the team still believes in him.
On the surface, there is validity in the line of thought that Osman can still be a productive rotation wing. He carries a career stat line of 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists, and is a career 35.0 percent shooter from three-point land. So what’s the issue?
Well…Osman is completing a career-low 30.7 percent from beyond the arc and to put things further into perspective, he canned just 10 of his 49 attempts during the month of March, which was a span of time consisting of 11 games.
That type of play will buy you a first-class ticket to the bench especially when you factor in Cleveland’s severe need for perimeter shooting (29th in the league) combined with the fact that the team has no shortage of young players just waiting for their chance to prove their worth to the franchise.
The latter has become more evident as of late as Cedi ended up logging two dreaded “DNPs” in favor of Brodric Thomas, Lamar Stevens and others over Cleveland’s last two outings prior to theirs versus the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, which was a second straight blowout L.
What can Osman do to climb back into the rotation?
His time in Cleveland may be running out and as KJG’s Amadou Sow put it: There are two outcomes that can come out of the coach’s decisions to seemingly put Cedi in the “doghouse;” but it’s still possible for him to earn back his place within the rotation if he is able to achieve three things, in particular.
We’ll begin with #1 and #2.
#1: Have a marked improvement from beyond the arc for the Cavs
There is no way around it. Osman must improve upon his marksmanship from deep. As previously stated, he is a career 35.0 shooter from past the arc and has shown not only the ability but the willingness to take those shots. That is not the issue. It’s all going to come down to confidence and consistency.
We’ve seen brief flashes of “microwave scorer” potential out of Osman but he must carry this ability into each game:
It would be unwise to assume that he will ever become a sniper in the mold of Kyle Korver, but he is certainly capable of more than the paltry 30.7 percent he is averaging right now. His recent benching may prove to ignite his competitive drive moving forward which may have been what Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had in mind when doing so.
#2: Earn Bickerstaff’s/the Cavs coaching staff’s trust
Speaking of the head honcho, Bickerstaff has given Cedi Osman numerous opportunities to demonstrate that he belongs within the rotation as evidenced by Osman’s 45 appearances and 17 starts this season. Be it from necessity or observation, he has had a long leash thus far.
That trust has not yielded favorable results as of yet though and Bickerstaff may have cut his losses and decided to roll with other options at this point. Cedi has to prove that his head coach’s/the coaching staff’s trust seemingly wasn’t unfounded and make the absolute most of the time that he gets on the court and in practice.
Osman has topped out at 13.0 points per game in the past and if given the proper role again and not forced to play out of position as has been the case due to persistent injuries to both the guard and power forward positions, he just may be able to get back to being a reliable reserve scorer.
He must prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is still one of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 10 best players and can affect the game in more ways than one.
Moving on, we’ll hit on the other key point of emphasis for Osman/his case for potential resurgence and examine what could be next.
#3: Osman needs to separate himself from the rest of the pack within relevant Cavs
Cedi Osman doesn’t do anything well enough to be considered a specialist. He is now below the league average of 36.7 percent in terms of three-point percentage, per StatsMuse. Ditto for his defensive box plus-minus as he is currently sitting with an average of minus-0.8 in that department.
With better shooters on the roster such as Dean Wade (36.8 percent from deep) and better defenders like the “heady” Stevens (0.3 DBPM), Osman must expand his game whether it be as a more consistent secondary playmaker or as an opportunistic defender. That may be the only way he gets another chance to be a part of the rotation moving forward.
So, what’s next for Osman?
With the team at 17-31 and currently sitting at 13th in the “weak” Eastern Conference, Osman may not get many more chances to showcase his skill set. If the team continues to pile up losses, Bickerstaff will almost certainly want to see which players are worth keeping heading into next season.
Another aspect to his current predicament will depend heavily upon where the Cleveland Cavaliers finish in the standings this season as the team may elect to draft another wing if in a position to do so. And there are no shortage of star caliber wings in the upcoming 2021 NBA Draft.
Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham and Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green, both of the G League Ignite squad, could all be available depending on Cleveland’s draft positioning.
Osman is under contract through the 2023-24 season with an average salary of nearly $7.8 million; albeit the last season is set to be non-guaranteed. So for better or worse, the Cavs will be stuck with Osman until a deal is perhaps struck or if he is bought out at some point down the road.
If the former is the case, Bickerstaff and co. may want to play him a considerable chunk again in an effort to increase his trade value heading into the offseason and beyond, though. We’ll of course have to see if a deal maybe in the offseason/before next season were to come about, anyhow.