Cavs: Cedi Osman seems nearly back; Evan Mobley is progressing

The Cleveland Cavaliers got Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen back from illness and COVID-19 health and safety protocols on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets, which was a plus.

The Cavaliers suffered another close loss then, and Cleveland having the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, winners of 13 straight games, isn’t the best set of circumstances. On a positive note though, Allen and Markkanen did have solid outings on Monday, and hopefully that performance can get Markkanen going on the right path, to some extent.

It was good on Tuesday that it appears Cedi Osman (back spasms) appears to be set to be available again for the Cavs on Wednesday, too, from a depth perspective.

Based on this report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Osman is listed as probable, whereas Lamar Stevens (ankle sprain) is still listed as out.

Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and the “Locked On Cavs” podcast also noted this from Osman in a recent tweet/report from Tuesday, which was encouraging for Cedi.

Plus, while he’ll still take some time to get back in the lineup from a right elbow sprain, this video featuring Evan Mobley extending his range to three-point land, via Fedor, was good to see.

Fedor did tweet out this, involving Bickerstaff’s comments regarding Mobley’s progress, and though he was not stating definitive, this was noteworthy, in my opinion.

Cavs: These reports from Tuesday, regarding the injury front, were positive for the Wine and Gold.

I’ve been critical of Osman, whose performance has been a rollercoaster ride over the course of the last three-plus seasons for the Cavaliers, but I do acknowledge that Cedi is capable of providing a spark, since moving to the bench full-time. To his credit, I have to give Osman his flowers for his play thus far this season, to a large degree.

He’s often given the Cavs a bench boost from a shooting perspective, and in a role where he’s not tasked to do things that are usually outside his comfort zone, he can be effective.

He’s done a solid job as a cutter this season, and in 15 games active this season, he’s knocked in 41.4 percent of his 5.8 three-point attempts per outing. He’s had a respectable 11.4 points in 21.8 minutes per game as well, and I have to give him his credit, again, for his play for Cleveland.

For a team that’s still having guys work their way back, Cedi seemingly set to be back on Wednesday after missing the past two games is a plus for the club.

From there, of course, that clip/report from Fedor regarding Mobley was encouraging for the Cavaliers, too, as we know that he can, even for a 20-year-old, help the Cavaliers in a variety of ways.

Mobley’s had 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.0 steals per outing thus far in Year 1, and as KJG’s Justin Brownlow detailed, he should be right in the thick of the Rookie of the Year race throughout the season. That’s if he doesn’t have too many injury absences, that is.

Generally though, it’s nice to know that Osman should be back available on Wednesday versus Phoenix/going forward it seems, and that Mobley seems to be progressing tangibly in his recovery.

Hopefully Darius Garland, as a side note, whose neck was reportedly sore on Tuesday after taking an elbow in Monday’s loss to Brooklyn, can get himself right, also. We’ll see; as Fedor pointed out, he is questionable on Wednesday versus Phoenix.