Cleveland Cavaliers: Larry Drew passed the test regarding Collin Sexton

Whether the veterans like it or not, Collin Sexton is a massive part of the future for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Taking that into account, it’s encouraging to see head coach Larry Drew reportedly get through to his other players regarding the rookie’s development.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t going anywhere anymore this year. They lost again last night, with this time involving a nine-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it was encouraging to see young point guard Collin Sexton play well in his first NBA start. The “Young Bull” got the starting nod with George Hill reportedly dealing with with shoulder soreness, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and with the talk surrounding Sexton in recent days, it was great to see him have a positive impact. Perhaps some of the credit should go to Larry Drew, who reportedly discussed how Sexton is going to make mistakes, and that the team needs to take it easy on the rook. That probably took some of the pressure off him.

Given that even though “Drew said “he didn’t read the articles,” it was great to see how Drew managed the Sexton-veteran Cavaliers’ situation, and Tristan Thompson clearly respects the kid, via Fedor.

A recent report came out from The Athletic’s Joe Vardon (subscription required) touched on how internally, “the line on Sexton is that he does not ‘know how to play.'”

It seems as though Thompson (one of the key leaders on this team) is on board with the rookie, though, and last night’s statline and his competitiveness overall had to have played into that.

Sexton is averaging 10.9 points (on 42.0 percent shooting), 2.3 rebounds, and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of only 2.1 to 2.2 in 24.7 minutes per game, per NBA.com. So, yes, it’s been rocky, but Sexton, as has been emphasized, is only 19. He touched on how he felt after his first start postgame (per Fox Sports Ohio), and for what it’s worth, I thought he took a step forward, too.

The Cavaliers need to recognize that, and based on how his teammates talked about him after the Thunder game last night, it appears Drew’s message got through to them, which is huge for Cleveland going forward in what will be a long, tough season. Going to into his first NBA start, Sexton, according to Drew (and h/t Cavs Twitter), “passed the test.”

That couldn’t have been more correct. Sexton was instrumental in helping the Cavaliers climb back from down 16 points, and I really liked his body language throughout the game.

What really stuck out to me throughout this, though, was how Drew handled this situation between a young player, in Sexton, and reportedly, the veterans on the team. He handled the situation head on, and recognized that in order for the team to have a productive season, Sexton needs to develop. Vardon detailed that in a piece published today (subscription required), and credit Drew’s leadership for that.

Everybody makes mistakes, but Sexton is bouncing back from them pretty well thus far.

In regards to how Drew handled this scenario, he definitely passed my test, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are much better off for it.