Cleveland Cavaliers: Where Collin Sexton ranks against other starting SG’s

#30: Bruce Brown

Detroit Pistons projected starting two guard Bruce Brown did what the Pistons asked of him in his rookie year, which was primarily not have a high usage rate and not be tasked with being one of the team’s important playmakers. Though the basic numbers of 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game (per Basketball Reference) didn’t fly off the screen, he was very good defensively, as Forbes‘ Duncan Smith hit on.

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Brown could be the Pistons’ best perimeter defender in coming years on the perimeter, thanks to his quick feet, functionally strong 202-pound frame and above average awareness for a young player.

He’s pretty limited at this point offensively outside of straight-line drives against switched-out bigs and aside from diagonal cuts or cuts into the paint for lay-ins, though, but again, he’s a player that knows his role as a defender for now, as Smith noted, and did it well last year, but the limited offense and playmaking lands him here going into 2019-20 for me.

#29: Dillon Brooks

Next in the projected starting shooting guard rankings I have the Memphis Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks.

Brooks was decent in his rookie year in 2017-18, at least on the offensive end (11.0 points on 53.1% true shooting, including a three-point shooting clip of 35.6%, per Basketball Reference) and was in okay position defensively for the most part, but it seems somewhat unclear as to how he’ll fare in year three for him.

He’s coming off playing just 18 games last season, mostly due to reported toe surgery, and I would think it will take some time for him to really be ready to roll game-to-game as a scorer and potential secondary playmaker; playing with Ja Morant and Kyle Anderson should get Brooks into a nice rhythm as the year progresses, though, but I’m not sure how much upside Brooks really has and he may not be the starter full-time (and though he was playing mostly the 3 in his two years thus far, it seems feasible that he’ll play more 2 next to Morant and with Anderson as the starting 3).

#28: Norman Powell

Toronto Raptors wing Norman Powell is a great athlete that can make things happen in transition, and will occasionally have big scoring games, but in his four years, he’s been really inconsistent, and that’s why he’s only played 16.8 career minutes per game.

Defensively, Powell is pretty capable on the perimeter on the ball, though, and has improved in recent years. Perhaps in his fifth year, he’ll turn a corner and establish himself as an every-night starter for Toronto alongside Kyle Lowry and further solidify himself as a good catch-and-shoot three-point man; last year he shot 43.1% on catch-and-shoot deep balls, whereas in 2017-18, he shot 31.0% (per NBA.com’s tracking data).

Can Powell step in in playing more for the departed Danny Green? We’ll see.