Cedi Osman reacts to Donovan Mitchell trade: 'Cavs are definitely contenders in East' / News - Basketnews.com

Cedi Osman reacted to the Donovan Mitchell trade, admitting that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Credit: AP-Scanpix Credit AP-Scanpix

Cedi Osman played one of his best games for Turkey (2-0) and led his country to the second win in EuroBasket 2022, but some big news shook his team in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN, theCleveland CavalierstrasdedLauri Markkanen, Ochair Agbaji,Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks, and two pick swaps toUtah Jazzfor Donovan Mitchell.

"Obviously, it's a great addition to the team," Osman shared his reaction to the trade with BasketNews. "I believe that everybody [in the organization] is excited."

Does he see the Cavaliers being contenders in Eastern Conference in the upcoming season?

"Definitely," Osman answered with confidence.

On Saturday, Osman played one of his best games for Turkey, finishing the game against Bulgaria with 25 points (8/11 2PTT, 3/4 3PT, 0/1 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 31 EFF.

"I was just trying to do my best and lead my team offensively," Osman said about his performance.

Although Turkey got 2 wins out of 2, there is definitely some room for improvement, especially on the defensive end. Osman noted such a problem and said that the whole team must step up.

"I can say that we are a new team that is getting used to playing with each other," said Osman. "We just have to communicate better. In the second half, they scored 35 points. It's not a bad defensive. We have to play like that for 40 minutes."

Meanwhile, head coach Ergin Ataman had some tougher words for his team's defensive performance.

"It's difficult," Ataman admitted in the press conference. "We as a new team had only three weeks to prepare [for EuroBasket]. After the EuroLeague level, such stupid and shameful mistakes in the defensive are not easy for me."

"Honestly, I went down morally in the first half. Some mistakes were incredible. Especially [from] the young guys. Anyway, for me, it's a new team, and we didn't have much time to work. We need to prepare better tactically for the next games," Ataman added.

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