3 Cavs that first come to mind as having makings of a ‘Beilein player’
By Dan Gilinsky
Collin Sexton
That source of Fedor’s was referring to 20-year-old second-year Cleveland guard Collin Sexton, and that to me is no surprise whatsoever.
Sexton is a well-documented gym rat, who seems to have worked as hard as anybody to turn a perceived weakness of his coming into the 2018 NBA Draft in terms of perimeter shooting, into now what looks like a strength of his heading into the 2019-20 season.
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That came from Sexton reportedly putting in countless hours to make his three-point shot a strength of his, and though his three-point clip could feasibly go down a bit from the 40.2% it was in his rookie season (per NBA.com), I wouldn’t expect that to go down all that much, especially considering Sexton should have Kevin Love and the greater floor spacing he provides hopefully more than just the 22 games he was active in last season (per Basketball Reference), mostly due to reported toe surgery.
Along with that, all three of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2019 drafted rookies in guard Darius Garland and wings Dylan Windler (when he returns from a reported lower leg injury) and Kevin Porter Jr. look to be floor spacers, too, which should also help Sexton as an all-around scorer in his second year.
Anyhow, with Sexton’s willingness to work and work and work to get better at his craft, perhaps more than just about anybody it seems, and with the way he had tremendous growth throughout his rookie season and closed extremely well as a scorer and was at least more of a willing passer, it proves to me that he fits the mold of doing what it takes to be “team first,” which Beilein is always I would think preaching.
Along with that, Fedor also detailed how Sexton also put a ton of work in in the film room in the offseason, and is working with Beilein and the coaching staff on how to become a better playmaker, and defender, and it’s clear that Sexton looked noticeably bigger and stronger at the team’s media day last week, also showing that Sexton is going to always try to improve as much as possible.
In the near future, I’d think Sexton will be absolutely loved by Beilein, but again, as Fedor’s source put it, Sexton is not yet a “quintessential ‘Beilein player.”‘
I wouldn’t think it’ll be too long before that is the case, though.