Cleveland Cavaliers: Cedi Osman vs. Bojan Bogdanovic
The Cleveland Cavaliers may have one of the more exciting backcourts in the league at some point down the road now that they have Darius Garland and Collin Sexton in their fold. That’s also counter-balanced by an experienced frontcourt that includes the likes of Kevin Love (if he can remain healthy) and Tristan Thompson.
But where the real excitement may lie when the Jazz and Cavs face off this season is in the small forward position where up-and-coming Cedi Osman will go up against established veteran Bojan Bogdanovic of the Jazz. Bojan is easily the better sharpshooter of the two for now, but Cedi is clearly working his way towards that mark and has all the skills and instincts to transform into a deadly shooter.
Cedi is also a crafty creator that saw his opportunity and effectiveness skyrocket last year. He went from 3.9 points per game to 13.0, though his efficiency definitely took a dip in his second NBA season.
Thus far when the two players have gone head-to-head, Bogdanovic has had far and above the advantage as he averages 15 points per game in contests against Osman, whereas Osman comes in at 6.9. While this matchup will certainly lean in the favor of Bogdanovic, don’t sleep on Cedi potentially having a big year and putting Bogey to the test. Much like Bojan, Osman has sneaky size at six-foot-eight, 215 pounds (the same height and just one pound less than Bojan) so they’ll be a good matchup physically as well.
The Cavs don’t figure to be all that daunting of a group in 2019-20 as they continue to work out several growing pains. Nevertheless, this Cedi-Bojan contest will still be a good one.
Scheduled Contests:
- 3/2 Utah at Cleveland
- 4/1 Cleveland at Utah