Report: Real Madrid targeting former Cavs forward as ‘first choice’ after losing Guerschon Yabusele

Former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Cedi Osman reportedly is the “first choice” for Real Madrid as it looks to replace several key players on its roster.

“After saying goodbye to two senators such as Chacho Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez, and losing Guerschon Yabusele to the NBA, Real Madrid enters the market with heavy feet: the first choice is Cedi Osman,” Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi wrote. “This is what has been learnt by Sportando, and not only, in these hours.”

Yabusele signed a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason after a strong showing at the 2024 Paris Olympics with France. He ended up helping France win the silver medal (it lost to the United States in the final) in the Olympics.

Osman, 29, played six seasons earlier in his NBA career with the Cavs before spending the 2023-24 season with the San Antonio Spurs.

Last season, Osman appeared in 72 games and made three starts for San Antonio. He averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 17.6 minutes per game. A solid 3-point shooter for his career (35.7 percent), Osman shot 47.9 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3 for the Spurs last season.

While the veteran forward played his fewest minutes per game since the 2017-18 season, he still showed that he was a productive rotation piece when called upon. If Osman is unable to latch on with an NBA team for the 2024-25 season, it’s possible that he’d consider heading overseas to play for Real Madrid.

A second-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Osman did not come to the NBA until the 2017-18 season. Instead, he spent time playing professionally in Turkey before joining the Cavs in the 2017-18 campaign.

In six seasons in Cleveland, Osman averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.

He was on the team when the Cavs made the NBA Finals in the 2017-18 season and stuck around in Cleveland long enough to see the franchise make it back to the playoffs in the 2022-23 campaign.

While Osman wasn’t a star for the Cavs, he proved to be a solid role player, averaging over 10 points per game in four of his six seasons with the franchise.

It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up playing basketball in the 2024-25 season.