One would assume that Cedi Osman hasn’t had the season he would’ve wanted for the Cleveland Cavaliers individually to this point.
In primarily a bench role this season, Osman has had 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 24.6 minutes per contest. And for one, the shooting struggles, particularly from beyond the arc, have been the glaring issue for Cedi, whose hit a career-low 41.5 percent of his two-point attempts as well.
Osman has hit just 30.5 percent of his three-point attempts on the year, and while I do perhaps give him a bit of slack with him averaging 5.6 attempts per contest, that clip has been disappointing.
Osman has hit only 0.8 of his 4.2 attempts per outing in his past 13 appearances, an abysmal 20.4 percent clip, also. His overall shooting clip in that span has been just 26.3 percent in 20.4 minutes per appearance.
It hasn’t necessarily been all bad for the fourth-year wing, though, as his playmaking in his burn has been a key positive for the Wine and Gold. Osman having had an average of 3.8 assists per-36 minutes thus far in 2020-21 has been a fairly notable clip, from my perspective, with him being a reserve wing.
That said, the return of Matthew Dellavedova and Kevin Love, and to some degree, Taurean Prince, lately could point to a role reduction for Osman, whose seemingly had the writing on that wall for a bit here anyway.
Osman’s role is likely marginalized with Cavs playmaking reinforcements.
First off, we’ll emphasize how the reintegration of Dellavedova and Love reduces the need/selling point for Osman for a considerable share of rotational burn.
How Delly and Love’s returns for the Cavs potentially affect Osman’s role
Dellavedova making his debut last week after not having played this regular season because of concussion complications and then working his way back from an appendectomy has helped Cleveland in the past four games.
Delly, while a complete non-shooting presence at this juncture, has given Darius Garland and Cleveland a lift from a reserve playmaking standpoint. He’s had five assists in each of his three games active thus far in 50 minutes played, and is yet to turn it over. He then followed that up by having seven assists in 20 minutes in Cleveland’s blowout W over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday (albeit sans Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).
His feel/passing timing has helped open up great opportunities for Collin Sexton, a bit for Dean Wade/Isaac Okoro and others. And even with Delly having nine total points on just three-of-18 shooting, I’d expect him to still get reserve burn with his veteran stabilizing presence/outstanding passing vision and team defensive feel.
Additionally, as we alluded to, Love, although some turnovers will happen, is a guy that definitely aids Cleveland from a secondary playmaking perspective. And I would think some of the turnover stuff with him will clear up to an extent after he works off some rust.
Love has missed most of this season due to a right calf injury/complications/soreness involved, albeit his minutes-share has been gradually increasing since making another return after missing nine games after a brief return in two outings post-All-Star.
We’ve seen Cleveland run some offense through Love already, too, and I’d expect that to continue; he had a solid 3.2 assists per outing last season.
Okay, so what’s the impact on Osman, then?
Osman, although he’s a rotational wing, that, in theory, is out there when he’s given run to space the floor/hit open looks, has been a nice tertiary playmaking presence, and has been in his prior two seasons to some degree.
However, with the likes of Dellavedova and Love back in the fold, the playmaking, which has been the silver lining largely for Cedi this season, doesn’t seem as needed in reserve minutes.
Early in the season, we saw Osman and even Damyean Dotson serve as de facto primary playmakers when Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, both a bit even, and both did a nice job I thought. That sort of thing isn’t really needed anymore, though, and likely even for Dotson.
Plus, in relation to the wing rotation, Okoro is starting to figure things out more offensively, and Prince (shoulder, ankle) has been getting his legs/seemingly his rhythm back more as a scorer, so Osman looks hard-pressed for minutes. Dylan Windler, when he’s back from knee soreness, could maybe factor into that conversation as well, although we’ve seen him, Cedi and Prince get some real burn together.
Nonetheless, with those playmaking reinforcements back for Cleveland, Osman’s role as even a secondary playmaking presence more so is likely marginalized regarding minutes-share/overall impact.
Considering that element with Delly/Love, Osman’s defensive limitations on-ball when needed against starting wings, and with him having trouble hitting water when falling out of the boat as a shooter for an extended stretch, we could see more DNPs to come for him. Let’s not dismiss two-way Lamar Stevens’ defensive impact in his burn, either.
The minutes reduction has already been there for Osman, whose role seems uncertain moving forward
Osman played in 20 minutes in the Cavs’ loss last week against the Philadelphia 76ers, but only in 10 minutes in that loss at the Miami Heat on Saturday, and didn’t play in the Cavaliers’ W at the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Nor did he play in Thursday’s win over OKC.
He also had two DNPs last week prior to that in a last-second L at the Sacramento Kings on March 27 and didn’t get any run in a blowout L at the Utah Jazz following that.
And looking onward, as KJG’s Mack Perry expressed, it’s tough to foresee exactly how Osman could potentially fit in with the Cavaliers following this season. The Cavs could seemingly look to add another wing in the 2021 NBA Draft, too.
Furthermore, Osman, though Prince was as well, was previously a player mentioned in trade rumors near the prior March 25 deadline.
Moreover, if the shooting doesn’t come more for Cedi when the burn comes for him the rest of this season, it’d seem increasingly likely that he could potentially be moved this upcoming offseason via trade if the Cavaliers could find a way to include him in a package.
We’ll have to see, though, and Osman is still signed through the next two seasons, with the 2023-24 campaign set to be non-guaranteed. Maybe a buyout scenario could happen down the road, albeit it’s difficult to say currently.
Perhaps he can turn things around, but I have my reservations.