Despite recent cold spell for Cavs, Cedi Osman still needs his opportunities

Cedi Osman is not the most consistent perimeter shooter for the Cleveland Cavaliers. His career with the Cavaliers, in his role, has shown that. There have been some peaks and valleys over the years with Osman, that’s for sure.

Last season, he hit 35.7 percent of his three-point attempts, and in the year prior, in a move to more of a bench role, he hit 30.6 percent of his triple attempts. In the year preceding that, he connected on 38.3 percent from three.

In 2021-22, he had 10.7 points per outing, and in 2020-21, he had 10.4 points per outing, of which came in 22.2 and 25.6 minutes per game, respectively. So far this season, his scoring has amounted to 8.9 points per contest, in 23.1 minutes per appearance; his three-point shooting clip has dipped to 32.5 percent.

Osman was hot to start the season, but has at times tapered off here and there, and in December, in a number of games, he’s been cold. In seven appearances this month, he’s shot only 21.7 percent from deep, on 3.8 attempts per contest, and overall, has shot 40.8 percent.

That said, it’s still apparent Cleveland should stick with him, despite a difficult stretch of late.

Even with a recent cold spell for the Cavs, Osman still needs his opportunities.

Osman hasn’t been able to get deep balls to go down recently, as in this December stretch, he’s only gone five-of-23 from three. Some of his counter shots, such as runners, he hasn’t been able to get down either, for what it’s worth.

Although, even with this cold spell of late, given how the Cavaliers still are without Dean Wade, who is dealing with an AC joint sprain in his shoulder, and with how Cleveland needs other perimeter shooters out there, Osman still should receive his chunk of minutes. He registered a DNP in Wednesday’s win at the Dallas Mavericks, and despite Lamar Stevens’ big night, and his two-way efforts in that one, J.B. Bickerstaff and company still could’ve found Osman some minutes.

There still are times when Osman doesn’t seem to have enough of a leash for stretches, either, when the shifts do come, and in Monday’s night loss at the San Antonio Spurs, he only received seven minutes of playing time.

Cleveland was ice cold as a group in that game from three, too, and perhaps Osman could’ve had an opportunity to get hot at some point in that one. That was a game where the Cavs had their struggles through three quarters, but did nearly come back in the fourth quarter, also.

Maybe if Osman receives more chances to make some plays as a movement shooter, tertiary creator and/or transition player, he could provide a notable spark off the bench, and help generate a Cavaliers run earlier in that game. That’s not what transpired, though, and as was previously mentioned, he registered a DNP at Dallas.

To reiterate, Osman has been off in December, but he can still give this Cavs team shooting pop off the bench, and whether or not he’s on, his shooting impact can still aid Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, among others. With Kevin Love having issues re-establishing a rhythm of late, perhaps at times, Osman should be in there at the 4, as an alternative, too, and the Cavaliers could sort through defensive matchups.

Osman is a player that is at his best with a clearly defined role, and fortunately, it does seem the team and him have found that for him in the past two seasons. However, while his minutes-share overall this season has been a logical one, hopefully the past two games aren’t a glimpse into him having a much shorter leash, which has occurred at various points, even last season a bit.

Cedi has been a player that has popped up in trade rumors, and did so over the offseason as well, as an aside. And Cleveland potentially making a play for possible hypothetical targets such as maybe Saddiq Bey or Josh Richardson by the trade deadline, for wing play and/or depth, I’d understand.

Still, with how he can give this Cavs team energy, Osman, who has had a robust plus-minus of 5.5 this season, should stick around. Other guys, such as Isaac Okoro, might be more sensible to move perhaps with future second-round pick capital and say other filler, such as Raul Neto.

Osman’s outlook throughout the rest of the month will be something to keep an eye on.