The Cavs recently met with Turkish swingman Cedi Osman, who told them he wants to play in the NBA next season, a source told international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Cleveland holds Osman’s rights by virtue of a draft-night trade in 2015.
The reaffirms a summertime report that Cavs GM David Griffin and his staff were keeping a close eye on Osman with the idea of signing him next season.
The 21-year-old Osman, who was born in Macedonia, was selected with the No. 31 overall pick by the Timberwolves. His draft rights, along with those of forward Rakeem Christmas and a future draft pick, were then shipped to the Cavs in exchange for the draft rights of point guard Tyus Jones.
The draft-and-stash prospect is a member of the Turkish national team and plays for Anadolu Efes Istanbul. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 20 minutes last season.
In his DraftExpress profile prior to the draft, the 6’8”Osman was considered “a very mature prospect with a great pedigree and a clear passion for the game,” adding that “he has already established a niche for himself as an offensive garbage-man who is willing to do the dirty work defensively and contribute with his unselfish mentality and strong feel for the game.”
If Osman were to sign with the Cavs, he’d probably have to settle for a relatively modest salary. Though the Cavs only have eight guaranteed contracts for the 2017/18 season, all but two of them are at least $10MM, with the trio of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving alone eating up $75MM in cap space. There could be a need for a wing player, as James Jones becomes a free agent after the season and Mike Dunleavy‘s $5.175MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.