Cavaliers’ Osman should have his share of chances with Love banged up

Cleveland Cavaliers wing Cedi Osman has long been a player that can be hot and cold. We’ve seen that in recent seasons with him in a bench role, and prior to that, when he was a starter in his second and third year with the team.

Last season, he gave the team a lift on a number of occasions, before he tailed off somewhat as the year wore on. Thus far this season, he started off hot once again, but has had some bumps in the road since, and lately, hasn’t had the best outcomes in his minutes.

Osman is a contributor that can give the squad a jolt when he’s in there, though, and has long been one of those types of guys, and we have seen that already in games this season.

On the year, his splits are down a bit with his minutes decreased, but he has connected on 38.8 percent of his three-point attempts. In 19.9 minutes per outing, he’s averaged 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds.

Nonetheless, what has been a bit perplexing to me, unfortunately, has been how Osman’s had some spiratic playing time lately. In his past two outings, he’s played 13 and then seven minutes at the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets, and then not too long before that, played just three and 15 minutes at the LA Clippers and Sacramento Kings.

In fairness, Osman is a player who will have some variance with his minutes-share; that’s the nature of his situation. He is limited on-ball defensively from a quickness standpoint, and can be a step slow as a rotator, and the shot can be up-and-down, on the other end.

That said, with Kevin Love dealing with a hairline fracture in his right thumb, of which will be evaluated daily, per the team, to me, that could be added rationale for Osman to have a number of looks.

Osman should have his share of looks with Love banged up, to help the Cavaliers bench.

For clarification, Love is listed as doubtful for the Cavaliers game versus the Miami Heat on Sunday, and with how the Cavs manage these sort of ailments, I’d assume he could miss multiple games. A report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com expressed how that could occur, too, along those lines, involving Love.

Now, Osman’s minutes primarily come at the 3, and he plays often with Love, as an aside. However, with Love’s ailment, and with Dean Wade (knee soreness) set to miss his fourth consecutive game on Sunday, and currently banged up as well, it’d be especially meaningful for the Cavaliers to get Osman his off-ball shooting looks in his minutes.

We hit on the spiratic minutes recently for Cedi, and frankly, Isaac Okoro, by comparison, having more minutes of late, regarding rotational perimeter players, has been hard to rationalize. Okoro has been fairly inconsistent defensively with his positioning, and he’s had 2.7 points per contest this season, with his effective field goal percentage having been 39.0.

Regardless of the Okoro situation, as we’ve hit on here, with Love and Wade dealing with injuries, I personally believe it’s imperative that Cleveland finds ways to get Osman going again. Him having 13 and then just seven minutes of PT the past two games has been odd, and with the Love and Wade ailments, the Cavs could definitely use Osman’s potential to heat up.

Osman can make plays for the Wine and Gold with his catch-and-shoot play, rhythm shooting, off-ball awareness offensively and from the transition game.

Point being, while Cedi has his ups and downs, assuredly, with the Cavaliers bench unit needing to be more impactful in the scoring department, the sixth-year wing needs more looks than he’s getting of late. And if that means him receiving far more minutes than say, Okoro, rotationally, and if Cleveland utilizes two-way Mamadi Diakite in spurts, too, for defensive help with his length and feel, so be it.

Moreover, though Caris LeVert could be in-line for a bigger role than he had as a starter offensively in a move to the bench, he could also help Osman regain his rhythm in stretches. Osman has only had 1.4 three-point attempts per contest in his last seven games, for context.

Time will tell as to the outlook for Cedi in games ahead.