What was the Cedi Osman trade?

Cedi Osman is a Turkish professional player who plays for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Born in Ohrid, Macedonia, now part of North Macedonia, Osman also has an older brother who played basketball. Osman’s basketball journey began at KK Bosna’s youth teams in 2001.

In 2007, Osman decided to take basketball as a serious career and signed with Anadolu Efes, which was a result of his outstanding performance with KK Bosna. He continued to play for Anadolu for multiple years. Osman was also granted Turkish citizenship due to his paternal Turkish background. This allowed him to represent Turkey in international basketball tournaments.

Osman played for Turkey in the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and the 2012 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, where he won the bronze medal and the Most Talented Player award. He also represented Turkey in the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, where he won a gold medal and was named to the All-Tournament Team as the MVP.

In the 2015 NBA Draft, Osman was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 31st overall pick. As he was still playing in Turkey, Minnesota only had the draft rights to Osman. In 2017, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the draft rights to Tyus Jones. In Cleveland, Osman started out as a solid bench player and gained more recognition when his workout pictures with Cavaliers superstar LeBron James became more popular. After LeBron left in the 2018 offseason, the Cavs decided to develop their team around Osman and signed him to a contract extension in 2019.

Cedi Osman Trade

On July 6, 2023, Osman was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal involving Max Strus, the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Osman had a lot of promise coming into the league, but it looks like he might have tapped out as a reliable spot-up shooter. He is 28 years old and could be running out of time to prove himself as one of the better role players in the league.

With his high IQ and savvy European basketball mindset, there is no question that Osman can be a good scorer in the league. Perhaps with a rebuilding Spurs team, Osman will be able to showcase his talent and establish himself as one of the cornerstones for the rebuild.