The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly decided to fully guarantee wing Cedi Osman’s deal for the 2023-24 season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are fully guaranteeing forward Cedi Osman’s $6.7 million contract for 2023-2024, sources tell ESPN. Osman has averaged nearly 10 points a game in his six seasons with the Cavaliers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2023
It was recently reported that the Cavs intended to bring back both Osman and Lamar Stevens, and that seems like just what the team is planning to do after also picking up Stevens’ team option for next season.
Osman has seen his name floated in trade rumors for much of the past couple of years, but he will remain with the Cavaliers for now. Next season is the last one on a four-year extension the former second-round pick signed back in 2019.
The 28-year-old has spent his entire NBA career with the Cavaliers, recording 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while knocking down 42.7 percent of his shots from the field and 35.3 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
After playing a big role for Cleveland in the 2018-19 campaign, Osman has seen his minutes per contest decrease each year since. He got 20.1 minutes nightly this past season, his lowest since his rookie season, which was LeBron James’ last season with the Cavs before leaving for the Los Angeles Lakers.
With the Cavs linked to a plethora of wings so far this season, it’ll be interesting to see if Osman ends up getting dealt. He could be used in a trade to net Cleveland the “significant upgrade” in the frontcourt it reportedly is looking for.
Cleveland is coming off a 2022-23 season in which it made it to the playoffs for the first time since James left in 2018. However, the team lost in an ugly five-game series against the New York Knicks.
It’s clear that more moves need to be made in order to truly break into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. Cavs fans will be paying close attention to see any headline-grabbing moves are made by Koby Altman and the team’s front office once free agency opens on Friday.
