Cedi Osman Emerging As The Cavs Most Important Small Forward

Cedi Osman has been a big contributor off Cleveland's bench in the early part of the season.

Heading into the season there had been a lot of talk about who will be the starting small forward for the Cavs. Would it be Isaac Okoro or Caris LeVert? Both are solid players but bring two completely different things to the table.

But neither of these players has been the most important small forward on the team so far in this young season. That would be Cedi Osman.

Osman has always been a little bit of a mystery. In the years following LeBron James' exit from Cleveland for the Lakers, he's shown flashes of great potential at times. However, he always struggled with his consistency.

It's a small sample size, but so far Cedi has looked like a potential six-man of the year coming off Cleveland's bench.

In the first game of the season, he dropped 17 points. 13 of those came in the first half alone. He really stepped up in Darius Garland's absence. 

He continued to impress in the second game against the Chicago Bulls. He scored 15 points while going 2-for-3 from behind the arc on 63 percent shooting from the field.

Smooth driving with @cediosman 🚗 #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/efw8q3KvZW

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 23, 2022

Cedi could be the most important small forward on this team moving forward. He could be the real difference maker in games as a scoring win coming off the bench. He had a plus 41 +/- difference against the Bulls. 

Let that sink in. 41 +/-. 

This helped the Cavs to their largest margin of victory of the Chicago franchise beating them by 32 points. 

The key to all of this will be whether Cedi can stay consistent. I don't expect him to drop 15 or 17 points every game like he has been, especially when Garland returns. But if Osman can continue to shoot 40 percent from three then this bench could be one of the best in the NBA. 

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