Report: Cavs intend to bring back Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly intend to bring back forwards Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens next season.

Some Cavs members were reportedly split about Osman’s future with the team. The veteran forward has a non-guaranteed deal for the 2023-24 season, but it is not an expensive one. His contract for next season becomes fully guaranteed on June 29.

As for Stevens, it had been reported that Cleveland was likely to bring him back. The forward has a team option for the 2023-24 campaign.

“Since writing each column, I’ve heard that the Cavs intend to bring both players back, if for no other reason than their team-friendly contracts,” Hoops Wire’s Sam Amico wrote.

It makes sense that the Cavs are interested in bringing back both players, as it gives them some depth at forward heading into the offseason. Cleveland could also potentially use the players in a trade to help match salary.

Osman, who has been with the Cavs since the 2017-18 season, featured in the team’s wing rotation alongside Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro and Stevens this season. However, the group underwhelmed as a whole in the playoffs against the New York Knicks.

Cleveland could be looking for shooting upgrades on the wing after Okoro (30.8 percent from deep in the playoffs) and Osman (30.0 percent) struggled to make the Knicks pay from beyond the arc.

Still, keeping Osman at least gives the Cavs some insurance, and he did play over Okoro at times during the team’s playoff series against New York.

As for Stevens, he appeared in 62 games for the Cavs during the 2022-23 season, making 25 starts. He’s spent the first three seasons of his career with Cleveland and averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

With LeVert set to become an unrestricted free agent, the Cavs clearly know they need a backup plan on the wing in case another team poaches him in free agency. While Osman and Stevens playing big minutes in the playoffs might not be ideal for Cleveland, they can help the team in spurts throughout the regular season.

With free agency approaching, it will be interesting to see how the Cavs try to improve their roster ahead of the 2023-24 season.