Cavs: After initial rust, Collin Sexton will be filling it up soon enough

Collin Sexton didn’t play much in preseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Collin Sexton and the Cleveland Cavaliers, overall, didn’t have a preseason outing they were hoping for. On Friday at the New York Knicks in the preseason finale, Cleveland was blown out 119-83.

It was again, anything but a quality performance. But it’s tough to read into it, really.

Cleveland was without Kevin Love (right calf strain), Larry Nance Jr. (concussion protocol/sprained jaw), Andre Drummond (DNP) and Matthew Dellavedova (concussion protocol). Adding to that, Dante Exum (left hip injury) and Kevin Porter Jr. were not in action at all, either.

In regards to Porter, who recently had his legal matters put behind him it appears, you can view more involving the context with him/the uncertainty for now if he’ll play in Cleveland’s 2020-21 opener at this link. Porter reportedly missed a good chunk of training camp, for reference.

Anyway, swinging back to Sexton, though, he made his preseason debut on Friday and it didn’t go well. Granted, it was understandable for him, given the rust factor.

And Sexton reportedly has been dealing with a minor ankle sprain, of which while it isn’t the biggest injury in the world, played into him not having been in preseason action much. That seemingly limited him some in camp, too, per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Fedor then noted how Sexton after the preseason finale said he “hasn’t practiced basically,” then said he did a “little bit” on Thursday but stated that he “didn’t have a rhythm” in that Knicks game.

Collin had six points on just two-of-11 from the field on Friday, albeit he did have four assists, and three turnovers, though. Sexton played 21 minutes.

After initial rust, Sexton will be filling it up for the Cavs soon enough.

Sexton, even before the ankle sprain, reportedly did not have a good camp showing going, but in a general sense, he should be just fine.

Sexton, just like other Cavaliers, such as Darius Garland, Kevin Love and Cedi Osman, has had such a long layoff, as the Cavs’ last regular season game was on March 10. That was due to novel coronavirus concerns/Cleveland not having been an Orlando-area bubble team.

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Sexton, though, it would appear shouldn’t be too hampered I wouldn’t think with that minor ankle sprain, and perhaps after a bit of rust early on next season, I’d imagine he’ll be dialed in as a bucket-getter for Cleveland.

Sexton, who was the Cavaliers’ leading scorer last season with 20.8 points per outing, was on quite a tear leading into the prior hiatus.

In his last 25 games active of 2019-20, Sexton averaged 24.2 points on 50.2 percent shooting, and hit 45.2 percent of his 5.0 three-point attempts per contest in that span.

It was nice to have seen Sexton have a better 4.2 assists per contest in his last 15 games active, too, for what it’s worth.

Circling back, however, even though Sexton has reportedly had his share of rust, Cavs fans shouldn’t be too concerned, frankly.

I wouldn’t imagine the ankle issue will be a really nagging one leading into/at the outset of next season, and factoring in Sexton’s close to last season, and how he’s continually improved as a shooter, we should see him filling it up soon enough.

Sexton’s improved frame, too, over what was an extended offseason, should only aid him more and more as a bucket-getter, and feasibly in other ways, such as off-ball defense, additionally in Year 3.

Collin will be more than fine, folks.