It was recently reported that LeBron’s former teammate Cedi Osman rejected a training camp offer from the Lakers to instead join European team Panathinaikos, but a long-time NBA insider is calling cap.
Eurohoops’ Nikola Miloradovic reported on that Osman turned down a Lakers invitation to join training camp “due to the lack of guarantees.”
However, Marc Stein has since disputed this report.
“It has been reported in Europe that Turkish swingman Cedi Osman turned down a training camp invite from the Lakers before signing with Panathinaikos in Greece, but sources close to the situation told The Stein Line that no such offer was extended by L.A. despite LeBron James’ well-known fondness for Osman dating to their days as Cavaliers teammates,” Stein wrote in his substack.
Stein also reported that Osman’s deal with the Greek powerhouse team is for one year and he can opt to re-join an NBA team if he receives an offer he would want to take up.
The Lakers have already reached their 15-man roster limit, since D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish and Jaxon Hayes all opted to pick up their player options.
So, the franchise would have had to make a consolidation trade to open up a roster spot in order to facilitate Osman anyway.
Osman spent the last six seasons with the Cavaliers coming of the bench and played with LeBron for a single season there in 2017-18.
Just last season, Osman played for the Spurs, though his production there dipped after he averaged 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in 72 contests – the lowest since his rookie year.
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