Collin Sexton continues to prove his floor spacing abilities for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers as a team are off to quite a start, as they’ve begun the 2020-21 season with a 3-0 record. The squad is showing toughness, and they are sharing the ball, which has resulted in plenty of open looks/productive offense.
Darius Garland and Collin Sexton as a tandem, in particular, have both been very good, too, as KJG’s John Carter recently demonstrated. Garland has started off the year with 19.0 points and 8.3 assists per contest, and he’s began shooting 54.8 percent from the field, while hitting 50.0 percent of his three-point attempts.
Sexton, meanwhile, has been cooking, too, and it’s evident that he’ll likely be Cleveland’s top scorer once again this season. Sexton, who averaged 20.8 points per outing in 2019-20 and closed out last season on quite a tear, as Carter hit on, has looked especially sharp at the outset of 2020-21.
His on-ball capabilities relating to his quickness/pull-up shooting, to go with change of pace, have been on display. But it’s been a pleasure to see Sexton continue to prove his viability off the ball and he’s started out on fire as a spot-up shooter.
Sexton is becoming near-automatic on spot-ups for the Cavs.
Last season, Sexton was showing little hesitation to simply let spot-ups fly, from three-point range, more so. Granted, he still will take mid-range pull-up looks, albeit those weren’t forced much in Year 2 for him, and now, he’s seemingly taking those in-rhythm an/or to take advantage in pick-and-roll situations.
In 2019-20, anyway, Sexton was firmly established himself as a player who could very well be a floor spacer moving forward. He placed in the 74th percentile on spot-ups, per Synergy Sports, and/or had an effective field goal shooting clip of 57.4 percent.
And this season, I know it’s so early, but he’s off to a scorching start on spot-ups, as he’s placed in the 98th percentile on those, according to Synergy; the dude is becoming near-automatic. Now, it’s a sample size of three games, so obviously, I’m mindful of that.
Although the key takeaway from his start in that realm is that Sexton is showing continued growth in his off-ball viability, and that with him further proving to be a floor spacer, it will help open up space for Garland, along with Andre Drummond, and others.
Plus, Sexton doing so will only aid him more on-ball as a driver, pull-up threat and cutter, the third of which he has shown improvement as well, dating back to the last month-plus of last season.
Moreover, hard closeouts to Sexton will only help him as a playmaker, an area where he’s shown progression, too, in relation to defenses anticipating pull-ups at times as a counter, opening up kickouts for him to shooters.
That’s led to dishes to Garland and Cedi Osman at times, for example. And Isaac Okoro (foot sprain) and Kevin Love (calf strain), when they’re back ready to go health-wise (both are reportedly out on Tuesday versus the New York Knicks), will benefit from that from Collin, also.
That’s to go with Kevin Porter Jr. (personal) and/or Dylan Windler (fourth metacarpal fracture), when they are back in the fold, too.
Circling back, though, Sexton is becoming near-automatic on spot-ups when those looks are coming for him, and projecting onward, I’d only expect him to continue to show viability off the ball. And that’s so encouraging for his outlook for the Wine and Gold.
Keep letting those spot-up looks fly for the Cavaliers, Young Bull!