Throughout the first week of the 2022-23 campaign, the Cleveland Cavaliers finished out 2-1, which is a solid start. They lost a close battle to the Toronto Raptors and personally, I believe they probably would’ve won the game if Darius Garland wasn’t hit in the eye by Gary Trent Jr. early on in the game.
However, they beat the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards in overtime, where Donovan Mitchell put up 100 points exactly in his first 3 games, which was a Cavs record to begin a season, as highlighted by the team. Mitchell was tasked to play point guard often, since Garland was out with his eye injury.
Mitchell has exceeded my expectations for the beginning of the season, and the Cavaliers should be a legitimate threat in the postseason this season, if they make it. I know the minutes with DG and Mitchell were super limited, but according to StatMuse, the Cavs had a tremendous offensive rating while DG and Mitchell were on the court together, posting a 125.9 offensive rating. So yeah, the Cavs should be a top tier offensive team with both Garland and Mitchell.
Without Donovan Mitchell on the team, the Cavaliers might not be 2-1 right now. Cleveland probably would’ve lost against Washington, and might’ve had some issues against Chicago, possibly making them 0-3, or feasibly 1-2. But, Mitchell offensively carried the squad on his back, being a tremendous playmaker and scorer. With the way Mitchell is playing in this short stint, he has a chance to make an All-NBA team, if he keeps it up.
Even though I keep talking about Mitchell, this article is not about him, shockingly. This article is about the Cavaliers Player of the Week for the beginning of the new season. Sure, Mitchell was the best player on this team for this stint, but in my eyes, the top performer deserves to be someone who exceeded my expectations. Sure, Mitchell exceeded my expectations, but someone exceeded theirs more so.
The Cavaliers Player of the Week for the opening of the 2022-23 campaign is Cedi Osman.
I will admit, I had low expectations for Cedi Osman this season, as I did not sing praises about Osman in a previous article of mine. Even though it has been only a few games of the season for Osman, I still think he can be capable of being a solid bench piece for the Wine and Gold.
Per EuroBasket stats, Osman averaged 16.2 points in 5 games in the EuroBasket Tournament. However, he only shot 30.6% from distance overseas. But, on the plus side, in his first 3 games for the Cavaliers this season, he shot a blistering 57.1% from distance.
If Osman can keep up this play, he might be in consideration for putting Caris LeVert on the bench. In my eyes, in the past few seasons, Osman has been one of the most inconsistent players for the Cavs, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
He’s had a very inconsistent role over that time. He was a starter for two seasons, and then was put to the bench. And last season, he had some DNP games, which is disappointing for a player of his caliber.
Let’s look at his official stats thus far then. He has averaged 16.0 points and 2.7 assists early on here, and also has had an 18.3 PER. Plus, he ranks 2nd in offensive rating, only behind Nick Richards, per Basketball Reference. Obviously, he’s probably not going to keep this level of play up, but it still is impressive nonetheless. He also ranks 12th in win shares per 48 minutes, putting up .259 win shares per 48.
Like I said, I wouldn’t bet on Osman keeping this up, but I still believe he’ll be solid this season for the Cavs.