Cedi Osman Deserves A New Contract From The Cleveland Cavaliers
One player who needs to step his game up this season is Cedi Osman. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who are in no position to win, need the 24-year-old to put everything together. This is a contract year for the Macedonia native. He’ll need to prove to the organization that he’s worth the investment of a new deal. And he may already be.
Osman isn’t the most consistent player on the Cavs roster. He’s dropping double-digit points and rebounds for a week straight, only to follow that up with some stinkers. However, dig a little deeper into the numbers and you’ll see how valuable Cedi Osman is to the Cavaliers.
Despite playing some bad matchups, Osman is an x-factor when he’s on his game. While it might not seem it, he’s quite effective in close games. The majority of his scoring (5.1) comes when Cleveland keeps the score within 1-5 points. Cedi shoots the ball 4.5 times during these game situations. That’s 1.5 times more than he shoots at any other scoring margin.
It didn’t help Osman that former Cavs coach, Larry Drew, did him few favors when closing out games. Playing with Collin Sexton and Jordan Clakrson, two ball dominant guards who don’t pass, Osman wasn’t able to be as effective in clutch time situations as he could have been. In fact, Osman played the least amount of minutes of any quarter in the 4th. That’s not any fault of his, just bad coaching.
When you have a player who thrives in close games and isn’t afraid to take the big shots, he needs to be played. It’s puzzling why Osman didn’t see the court as much in the 4th quarter. You can make a case that his defense is poor, although, there wasn’t one Cavalier who was particularly good on that end of the court (minus Matthew Dellavedova).
It wouldn’t be in the best interest of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization to let Osman walk. There are some things he needs to work on, although, seeing as the organization groomed him, letting that hard work go to waste would be a huge letdown. The potential with Cedi Osman is unlimited. We’ve seen games of his where he’s the best player on the court.
For the Cavs, maintaining this core is essential. Players such as Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Jordan Clarkson might be gone by Cedi’s upcoming restricted free agency. This leaves Cleveland in a position to sign Osman, and give him more time to settle himself into the role of most consistent scorer and option for this team.
Don’t forget, Cedi Osman was the one who replaced LeBron James at SF. He’s obviously not the same player as LBJ. As we’ve seen, he’s a vital piece to the team. If Osman improves just a bit more than last year, and gets that extra 4th quarter playing time, he’ll garner himself quite the payday come the off-season.
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
