Cedi Osman, Cavaliers Reportedly Agree on 3-Year, $8.3 Million Contract

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly reached an agreement Wednesday with Cedi Osman on a three-year, $8.3 million contract. They acquired the small forward in a 2015 draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN first reported the news and noted the Cavs will pay a $700,000 buyout for him to leave Europe. He most recently played for Anadolu Efes in Turkey.

Osman, the first pick of the second round two years ago, joined Rakeem Christmas as part of the package heading to Cleveland in exchange for Tyus Jones.

The 22-year-old Macedonia native, who represents Turkey at the international level, has appeared in 98 Euroleague contests over the past four seasons with Anadolu Efes. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 35.6 percent from three-point range in 18.2 minutes per game.

In April, former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin, who wasn't re-signed after the 2016-17 season, spoke highly of the developmental prospect, per David Zavac of Fear The Sword.

"Really excited about Cedi. He's about all the right things," he said. "He's a Tristan Thompson of a swingman mold."

Griffin added: "He's not that athletic. He's not that comparatively unguardable [to Goran Dragic]. But he's going to defend and make open jump shots and knows how to play and he's got size."

The 6'8" Osman confirmed to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops in May he was "very happy" to read those comments and said they provided "motivation" to improve.

"Well, I have my goals. I want to go to the NBA and play there," he said.

While anybody sitting behind Cavs superstar LeBron James on the depth chart won't log many minutes, Osman isn't polished enough for a high-profile role yet anyway. And getting to learn from the gold standard of the NBA is an ideal situation.

All told, the forward could become a nice three-and-D asset over the next few years if he becomes more consistent with his jumper.