The Cleveland Cavaliers could move Cedi Osman and others to help get Collin Sexton signed

The Cleveland Cavaliers may find Cedi Osman the odd-man out.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have found themselves to be a very deep team heading into the 2022-2023 season. While we bicker about Collin Sexton or Caris LeVert and want an upgrade beyond them regardless, we have to realize we’re in a great spot. Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Darius Garland are all Top 10 at their positions and the team is so deep that good players may not have minutes. Unfortunately, that also means that good players may be on new teams, like Cedi Osman.

Osman is more of a point-forward creator, who can shoot, rather than a shooter who can play-make. He can be extremely effective or shockingly streaky when all he’s asked to do is hit corner jumpers. Yet, if he’s given the chance to be more of a focal point, he can do quite well.

Personally, a team that values his abilities more would be ideal, but you can’t blame JB Bickerstaff for his hesitation to play him more. His experience with Osman has been of an inconsistent variety. So even though he has something worth offering, it’s understandable that the team may look to move him.

As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, if someone has to go (and they do), it may very well be Osman;

"I have my doubts. Not only did it become clear at the end of the season that Bickerstaff was losing trust in Osman, but also keeping Sexton would necessitate a roster move. Any deal with Sexton — signing the qualifying offer by Oct. 1 or agreeing to a multi-year pact — puts the Cavs at 16 players, one above the maximum."

The Cleveland Cavaliers could ship Cedi Osman out to help sign Collin Sexton

As we talked about earlier, the reason why Sexton hasn’t been given a bigger contract isn’t a slight against Sexton, but a lack of a desire to go over the luxury tax. See, the NBA is a weird beast, a lot of teams don’t make money. They rely on revenue sharing to turn a profit. The year the Cavs won the NBA title? They actually lost money on the year. That’s right, they operated in the red.

So it’s not that shocking to find out NBA owners don’t like running a business at a net loss. This is why so many teams avoid the luxury tax. Osman is making $7 million this year, you move him for a cheaper asset, even if you don’t get a full return back on his attributes, you can then increase your offer to Sexton.

Not only that, but you could also see the Cavs move on from guys like Dylan Windler and Lamar Stevens as well, which would free up about another $5.8 million.

While I hate the idea of the Cavs trading away one of my favorite players, logically, it just makes too much sense to keep him. Especially if the goal is to get Sexton and then LeVert on new deals.

It may suck, but it may be the only path forward.