Cavs’ Collin Sexton is out to prove something in Rising Stars Game

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton is in the NBA Rising Stars Game on Friday, and he’s out to prove something on that stage.

The NBA Rising Stars Game is on Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern, which is a Team USA and Team World exhibition consisting of rookies and sophomores, where both teams have 10 players, of which Cleveland Cavaliers second-year guard Collin Sexton was one of them.

Those 10 players were selected by NBA assistant coaches, and of the 10, four are frontcourt players, four are backcourt players and two are “wild cards,” if you will, meaning they could be from either position group.

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In Sexton’s case, he was initially not one of the players selected to be in the exhibition, which was a joke, if you ask me, but I’m glad he ultimately will have his opportunity to represent the Cavaliers.

He was named as the injury replacement for Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, as Herro is dealing with a reported ankle sprain. For Sexton, though, it’s a chance for him to prove something and show out on the All-Star Weekend stage.

Sexton is leading the Cleveland Cavaliers in scoring with 19.8 points per game this season, according to NBA.com, on a solid 54.4 percent true shooting clip for a second-year guard. As far as players in his 2018 draft class, Sexton is third in scoring, behind only budding superstars Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

He also leads all second-year players with now 124 double-digit scoring games, h/t a Cleveland Cavaliers’ press release.

In this Rising Stars Game, knowing the competitor Sexton is, he’s out to prove he belongs, and I expect him to show out in Chicago. After all, Sexton was snubbed for not being a Rising Star last season, and again was before he was named as an injury replacement, and I believe was much more qualified than the Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges and the Chicago Bulls’ Wendell Carter Jr.

Bridges is an explosive athlete and Carter could potentially be a building block for the Bulls, but again, especially considering Sexton has not missed a game in his NBA career, he should’ve been in initially. Those two pieces absolutely do not put close to the same amount of pressure Sexton does on an opposing defense on a game-to-game basis.

While Collin definitely needs to grow his game in other areas, the 21-year-old is showing positive signs as a passer, as he, Darius Garland and Cedi Osman have been more effective in that area for the most part as of late, and Sexton has gotten better defensively on the ball this season.

Though he still has trouble getting through off-ball screens to contest perimeter shooters, his anticipation in getting into passing lanes has been much-improved as a help defender, which has led to more easy opportunities where he can show off his blazing speed end-to-end.

Sexton’s 53 steals this season are already more than he had all of his rookie year, in which he had 44, as documented by Basketball Reference.

Anyhow, with Sexton now in the Rising Stars Game, with the tenacity he plays with, I’d expect the Young Bull to play as if he’s out to prove something, and do his part in helping Team USA notch a victory.

Do any of the players care who wins? It’s hard to say, but either way, Sexton’s going to have a killer mentality when he’s in there for Team USA.

Moreover, the game should be a fun one to watch with loads of young talent on display; you can view the rosters here, courtesy of the NBA All-Star Twitter.