Another Lakers loss: Free agent forward target decides he'd rather play in Greece

The Los Angeles Lakers offseason has, as always, been eventful. However, the line between entertainment and improvement is noticeable and unfortunately for LeBron James and the Lakers, they've fallen on the side of the former. They drafted Dalton Knecht and then, LeBron James' son Bronny James. Former head coach Darvin Ham was relieved of his duties and replaced by a podcaster, player, sharpshooter, and someone with less than or equal to the same amount of head coaching experience as you: JJ Redick.

The summer and offseason are not over, though. The Lakers currently have 13 players on their roster, leaving them with two open roster spots and the expectation is at least one of them will be filled with a minimum signing. A potential target for the 14th roster spot was Turkish forward and former LeBron teammate, Cedi Osman. Osman spent last season with the San Antonio Spurs where he averaged 6.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in 17.6 minutes per game. He also shot 39 percent from beyond the arc on 221 attempts. His spot-up shooting, size, and physicality could've made him a good fit for great value given the Lakers struggled to match up physically on the perimeter last season.

But it turns out Osman won't be joining the Lakers, he won't even be joining an NBA team. Instead, he has opted to sign with reigning EuroLeague champions Panathinaikos according to an Instagram post from the clubs owner Dimitrios Giannakopoulos.

Cedi Osman signing with Panathinaikos continues summer trend of more players leaving the NBA for Europe

Osman is the 17th NBA player to sign with a EuroLeague club this summer, joining Evan Fournier, Sasha Vezenkov, Chimezie Metu, Aleksej Pokusevski, Furkan Korkmaz, Stanley Johnson*, Jordan Nwora, Armoni Brooks, Trent Forrest, Luka Samanic, Shaquille Harrison, Admiral Schofield, Wenyen Gabriel, Omer Yurtseven, Frank Ntilikina, and Usman Garuba. (*Technically only played in the G League last season.)

Osman's signing is a clear response by Panathinaikos owner Giannakopoulos to the recent additions rivals Olympiacos have made, which was a response to Panathinaikos capturing last season's EuroLeague title. The historic rivalry between the two clubs is in full-swing, with both digging deep into their owners pockets to put the best squads possible on the court next season.

Osman was also rumored to be a target for former club Anadolu Efes Istanbul and more strongly linked to Real Madrid as a replacement for Guerschon Yabusele who left for the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this summer. To make room for Osman on the roster, it's rumored that Spanish forward Juancho Hernangomez, aka Bo Cruz, will be leaving Panathinaikos for Real Madrid.

Panathinaikos will open their EuroLeague season against ALBA Berlin in Germany, Olympiacos will open on the road against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. The first Greek Derby will be played in Round 8, at the OAKA arena in Athens.