It’s been a quiet offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose biggest moves to this point have been re-signing Kyle Korver and adding Jeff Green to the roster on a veteran minimum deal. Those moves don’t feel like much has been done to close the gap on the Warriors, who have managed to somehow get better this offseason by adding Nick Young.
The Cavaliers’ options to make improvements are few and far between with their cap situation, but on Wednesday they made their biggest move of the summer by signing former second round pick Cedi Osman to a 3-year, $8.2 million, slotting him into part of their tax-payer mid-level exception, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon.
Cavs have agreed to sign 2015 draft pick Cedi Osman, sources said. Deal is 3 years, $8.3 million plus about $700,000 going to Euro buyout.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 12, 2017
As Windhorst notes, the signing, like any the Cavaliers make as a tax repeater team, causes a significant jump to their tax bill, bringing the total to just over $70 million.
Cavs updated 2018 tax bill including Osman signing: $70.7 million
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 12, 2017
The Turkish forward averaged 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in the Euroleague last season while playing for Anadolu Efes. A career 35 percent three-point shooter, Osman has some range on the offensive end and the Cavs will hope he can provide some much needed bench assistance for a reserve unit that struggled mightily to score points and keep the Cavs in games when LeBron James was off the floor.
Osman has also been the subject of trade talks frequently as one of the few young assets the Cavs have, and bringing him over – and getting him signed – will make him even more tempting if the Cavs decide to dangle him out there in a potential package.
