Would Cedi Osman Move the Needle for the Spurs?

The San Antonio Spurs have been involved in more trade rumors than usual this season and have already made a rare mid-season move. With the NBA trade deadline less than two weeks away, there has been a lot of chatter that they're not done yet.

In his latest rumor round-up for Bleacher Report, Jake Fischer brought a new name into the mix for the Silver and Black: Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Cedi Osman. At 6-7 and 230 pounds, Osman is now in his fifth season with the Cavaliers after being drafted 31st overall in 2015. After struggling from 3-point range last season (30.6%), he's brought that number up to 35.8% this season and has a career mark of 35%.

To get a better idea of what Osman brings to the court, I reached out to our FanSided colleague, Josh Cornelissen, who runs the Cleveland Cavaliers page, King James Gospel.

"Cedi was downright bad last season," started Cornelissen. "So this is something of a bounceback season for him. He is a part of the bench unit that was killing teams for much of the year. He is the Cavs' movement shooter, coming off screens and pindowns. He's a willing shooter but not hyper-accurate. He can handle some but more as a secondary or tertiary option."

Josh followed up by giving us some details about what Osman brings to the court as a defender.

"Defensively, he is average to below average. He has good anticipation for steals, but he can get screened easily and isn't the strongest. He really is better deployed at the two than the three."

Should the San Antonio Spurs Trade for Cedi Osman?

From watching some footage and also reading up about Osman, it doesn't seem like he fulfills any sort of need for the Spurs right now. San Antonio is already full of undersized forwards and guards who offer average to below-average defense. They also already have one of the better movement shooters in the league in Doug McDermott.

If anything, the best quality Osman would bring to San Antonio is outside shooting, but even that area of his game hasn't been very impressive. One thing that's really hurting the Spurs' offense is how often guys are missing open shots.

Per NBA.com, Lonnie Walker and Derrick White are struggling mightily when a defender is 4-6 feet away upon release. Here's just how bad it's gotten through 49 games.

2020-21
Walker 34.4%
White 39.8%

2021-22
Walker 28.9%
White 23.9%

In looking at Osman's shooting in those situations, it isn't much better. He made just 28.4% of his open shots last season and has only barely improved that to 32.9% this season. For comparison, Dejounte Murray is shooting 32.7% in that situation while Devin Vassell (37.4) and Keldon Johnson (43.9) are greatly exceeding that.

If Osman was a lights-out shooter in the same vein as McDermott, he'd probably be worth a serious look. As it stands right now, I'm not sure he really adds anything to the Spurs.

While the Spurs might have some interest in Osman, I wouldn't expect them to offer anything significant for his services.