Major Twist on Ex-LeBron James Teammate’s Reported Rejection of Lakers Offer

Getty LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers hugs Cedi Osman #16 of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The earlier report of Cedi Osman, a former LeBron James‘ teammate in Cleveland, rejecting a training camp invite from the Los Angeles Lakers took a major twist.

Substack’s NBA insider Marc Stein reported on September 9 that the Lakers never extended such an offer to Osman contrary to an earlier report from Eurohoops.net.

“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.

Eurohoops’ Nikola Miloradovic reported on September 7 that Osman turned down a Lakers invitation to join their training camp “due to the lack of guarantees.”

The Lakers have reached the 15-roster limit with their rookie signings. Hence, they would need to make a consolidation trade to open up a roster spot.

Osman ultimately signed with Greek club Panathinaikos in the Euroleague, Miloradovic reported which Stein confirmed.

Stein added that Osman’s deal is for one year with an opt-out to rejoin the NBA if he receives an offer he likes.

The 29-year-old Turkish wing played in the NBA from 2017 to 2024 with the Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs. He played with James from 2017 to 2019.

Osman averaged 6.8 points on 38.9% 3-point shooting with 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 17.6 minutes off the bench for the Spurs last season. He’s shot above 37% over the past two seasons from the 3-point distance, per basketball reference.

On top of his familiarity with James’ play, Osman would have been a major boost to the Lakers, who shot a second-worst 29.9% from deep during the last NBA Playoffs.

Why Lakers Are Stuck With Current Core

The Lakers have been stuck with their current flawed roster because their role players, who had player options opted to return because of the suppressed free agency market brought by the new CBA.

D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood, Cam Reddish and Jaxon Hayes all opted to pick up their player options. Then the Lakers signed their two rookies Bronny James and Dalton Knecht that filled up their 15-man roster.

The Lakers’ quiet offseason was not for the lack of trying.

They have targeted Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan but both free agents went to Dallas and Sacramento, respectively via sign-and-trade.

In the end, the Lakers’ lack of financial flexibility doomed their offseason.

Rob Pelinka Cites New CBA as Major Factor in Lakers’ Quiet Offseason

The Lakers were expected to make a splash this offseason after they held on to their draft picks at the trade deadline.

But it has been quiet so far with the training camp just a few weeks away.

During their rookies James and Knecht’s introductory press conference, Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka explained their cautious approach in the trade market.

“We’re going to always be aggressive to trying to make roster upgrades and we’ll be relentless to continue to look at what we can do,” Pelinka told reporters.

But he also noted they are being cautious because of the new, punitive Collective Bargaining Agreement that restricts teams who reach the first and second aprons on what they can do to build out their rosters.

“If the right deal comes and we have to put in draft picks, we will,” Pelinka told reporters. “We are now in the apron world.”

The Lakers have two first-round picks (2029 and 2031) at their disposal plus five second-round picks from next year’s draft until 2031.

Pelinka cited contending teams losing players, which is a result of the new CBA.