Cavs: Collin Sexton, future All-Star doesn’t seem far-fetched

Collin Sexton recently said how he wants to “push towards that All-Star Game,” and him becoming an All-Star down the road for the Cleveland Cavaliers doesn’t seem far-fetched.

Collin Sexton is one of the most promising young players for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his arrow is pointing up. Though we won’t see any more Cavs 2019-20 game action, it was evident that Sexton was on quite the tear leading into the NBA season’s novel coronavirus-induced hiatus.

In what would ultimately be the Cavs’ last 15 games, Sexton was lighting it up. Sexton led the Cavs in scoring this past season with 20.8 points per game, and in that aforementioned stretch, he was averaging 24.5 points per outing.

That was on a true shooting rate of 63.1 percent, and the Young Bull was hitting a scorching 44.2 percent of his 5.1 three-point attempts per game in that span, per NBA.com.

Throughout his first two seasons, Sexton has worked and worked and worked into establishing himself into a floor spacing presence for Cleveland. It’s been a pleasure to see him turn what was a perceived weakness coming into the league, in terms of three-point shooting, into a strength of his game.

Through his first two seasons, Sexton has hit 40.2 percent and 38.0 percent of his three-point tries, and what was really jumped out is him proving to be a good perimeter catch-and-shoot option. In Year 2 for him with the Cavaliers, he knocked down 42.1 percent of those looks from deep, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data.

Sexton also made himself more of a threat on the interior this season and his finishing in the paint improved, thanks in large part to him getting stronger.

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Additionally, in the mid-range area, he was again a key threat, but that was not really from him passing up open triples, as was often the case in his rookie season.

Sexton was hitting those in-rhythm a bunch, and he showed plenty of growth in changing speeds in the pick-and-roll game, leading to more separation. Also along with Darius Garland, Sexton’s floater package is underrated as a counter to his pull-up game in the mid-range/deeper in the paint.

Granted, I know that Sexton needs to make considerable strides as a passer in the near future, but he was showing growth in that realm in terms of making more drive-and-kicks/initiating ball-swings leading into the hiatus.

I firmly believe as he gets more experience playing alongside Kevin Love, Kevin Porter Jr., Garland and others, he can get better, over time, as a passer, too.

Sexton needs to get better defensively, too, and I admit that. He showed real growth in that area last season on-ball, too, though, and it was nice to see him average 1.0 steals per game and show better anticipation at least when stunting to drivers help side.

Moreover, while I’m not expecting to happen next season or anything with the Cavs still having a long way to go and needing more quality defenders on the wing to help turn themselves around, Sexton could very well be an All-Star at some point, I believe.

Sexton touching on that sort of thing with the media on Friday did not seem too far-fetched either, as the Cleveland Cavaliers guard is on his way.

On a Zoom call with the media on Friday, Sexton said how an aspiration for him is to eventually be a participant in the NBA All-Star Game.

He also noted how he wants to continue grow overall when hitting on the 2020-21 campaign; here was that bit from Collin, as was transcribed by WKYC’s Ben Axelrod.

"“Just continuing to get better. Just continuing to get better all-around, becoming a playmaker and just continuing to grow,” Sexton said. “I felt the Rising Stars Game, I know how it feels. So next year or years after, I want to push toward that All-Star Game because I know what it feels like and it just makes me want it that much more.”"

Now, while I don’t have a crystal ball, I wouldn’t expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to be a postseason team next season, and All-Stars, by and large, are on winning clubs.

So next season for Sexton, that seems pretty darn lofty, though it was great to see the Cavs playing better leading into the hiatus and after J.B. Bickerstaff the head coaching reigns post-All-Star break, when Cleveland was a respectable 5-6.

If the Cavs can add a high quality defensive piece such as Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, USC’s Onyeka Okongwu or Florida State’s Patrick Williams, for instance, that should help them move more in the right direction next season, too.

Anyway, while the 2020-21 campaign it seems unrealistic for Sexton to be an All-Star, in the near future, if he show more growth as a playmaker and help more in the team defensively, and the Cavs can turn into a winner, the 2020 Rising Star (even while it as a sub) could eventually be an All-Star. He had 21 points on that Rising Stars stage, too, as Axelrod mentioned.

With the way Sexton constantly puts pressure on opposing defenses as a three-level scorer, and with him showing growth as a cutter and as a catch-and-shoot threat even more this past season, I don’t think Sexton being a future All-Star is far-fetched.

Plus, these comments from Kevin Love on Zoom media availability about Sexton’s otherwordly work ethic to me make me believe he’s well on his way, as was transcribed by 92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter.

"“He’s such a competitor it’s infectious to be around,” Love said. “Never have I seen somebody work so hard in this league to get better.”"

The more I here about Sexton, the more I’m sold on the guy as a cornerstone piece for the Cavaliers.

He does need to improve as an overall player in coming years, and we need to see him continue to get better in the PnR game and in team defensive sense, especially, to help the Cleveland Cavaliers’ efforts as they try to get on the winning track.

Seeing those recent comments from Love, though, and with how Sexton’s arrow is pointing way up going into his third year, with his drive and with the competitor he is, Sexton being an All-Star in the future does not seem overly lofty to me.

I’m as bullish on the 21-year-old as anyone, and I know that, but seeing him rep the Cavs in an All-Star Game down the road wouldn’t be surprising at all with his truly rare commitment to the game.