The NBA may end up having a H-O-R-S-E competition for starving fans at some point, and Collin Sexton should be the player to represent the Cleveland Cavaliers if that scenario plays out and they’re given the opportunity.
The NBA 2019-20 season has been on hiatus since March 11, which was when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus pandemic, and other NBA players/members of NBA personnel also had since tested positive for COVID-19, of which you can view here. Though Gobert has since fully recovered and most other named players that tested positive have, of which you again view more details at the prior link and also at this one, per KJG’s Billy Beebe, it’s unclear if the season will resume for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams.
Granted, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on Friday, the NBA is “angling” to cancel this season and they are essentially not so much discussing ways to carry out the season as much as they are discussing the financial ramifications of a shutdown scenario, and Windhorst noted how there’s a “significant amount of pessimism” in relation to a season resumption.
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Plus, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday, roughly one percent of pay on a per-game basis for players could be lost based on the collective bargaining agreement’s “force majeure” provision in regards to game cancellations due to catastrophic situations.
Wojnarowski also reported that though this is anything but a certainty right now, that the league and NBPA are “discussing scenarios for withholding up to 25% of players’ remaining salaries in a league escrow should regular-season games eventually be canceled,” but again, we aren’t sure about these sort of details yet.
On a conference call also involving other professional sports commissioners with president Donald Trump on Saturday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and previously in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols said how, as noted by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, he “hopes basketball plays a role in leading the economy back.”
Silver did stress how safety is always going to be the number one concern for the league, though, as is a no-brainer.
If a season resumption does happen at some point down the road, Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix reported how while it is definitely not a certainty, the league would feasibly have all postseason games, with a shortened format, played in Las Vegas. Vegas is a key venue for NBA Summer League, for reference.
Nonetheless, with the league on hiatus until further notice due to COVID-19 concerns/social distancing, the league is reportedly considering conducting a league H-O-R-S-E competition involving players and would be televised on ESPN, per Wojnarowski, and to me, Collin Sexton should represent the Cavs if that contest plays out and Cleveland’s given the opporunity.
The NBA and ESPN are working on televising a H-O-R-S-E competition involving several high-profile players, sources say. Players would shoot in isolation – presumably in home gyms – and match shots against competitors. Details are still being finalized.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 4, 2020
Given that Andre Drummond, as Beebe highlighted, is competing in a NBA 2K20 tournament televised on ESPN/ESPN2 and Darius Garland recently was repping the Cavs in a friendly 2K20 game streamed on Twitch where he destroyed Phoenix Suns rookie Tariq Owens 105-45, and Sexton has continued in his progression as a three-level scorer, Sexton should get the nod for the Cavs in a H-O-R-S-E scenario.
It’s unclear if the Cavs and/or Sexton would be able to have that chance, though, and the New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand said he heard the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chris Paul, the Houston Rockets’ Russell Westbrook, the Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson could be included, along with former Miami Heat superstar, Dwyane Wade. I’d imagine this could be more wide-reaching, however.
For context, as Woj noted, the competition would involve players shooting feasibly in their home gyms, where they’d have to “match shots against competitors.”
Sexton has led the Cleveland Cavaliers in scoring virtually this entire season with 20.8 points per game, per NBA.com, and has continually shown improved touch at all levels.
While Kevin Love and Garland (in a vacuum) are seemingly Cleveland’s best shooters, and Kevin Porter Jr. has shown the ability to hit tough shots for stretches, Garland did have a left groin injury leading into the season’s suspension, and Sexton has been much more consistent than KPJ on jumpers.
Porter is, I’d hope, fully recovered from a concussion, and while this wouldn’t involve contact, Sexton again is seemingly a more logical fit, as he was lighting it up post-All-Star break, in putting up 25.5 points per game. Even with Larry Nance Jr. previously being a Slam Dunk Contest participant and showing even more improved touch this season in hitting a career-best 35.2 percent from downtown, I’d still prefer Sexton to Nance as well.
Furthermore, in his second season, Sexton has shot 38.0 percent from deep and has hit shown he’s more than capable in finishing at all three levels, and has even shown much more power at the rim with 23 dunks, as indicated by Basketball Reference.
Moreover, this H-O-R-S-E competition seemingly to play out down the road would be a nice way for Sexton to be in the national spotlight a bit, if the Cavs are given the opportunity to be represented, and it’d be a cool way for a noted gym rat in Sexton, who has lit it up in his second year, to be able to show what he can do in an exhibition for basketball-starved NBA fans.
So again in a H-O-R-S-E competition to feasibly play out at some point, let the 21-year-old Sexton have the floor if possible, Cavs.