Cavs: Clips of Collin Sexton postgame showcase what he’s all about

I know that the Cleveland Cavaliers have a long way to go before they have a chance to contend with the heavyweights in the Eastern Conference. This team needs to have further progression to compete for the postseason year-to-year, even.

The Cavaliers have been through a hellish gauntlet of their schedule in the month of February, though, and while it’s not exactly a newfound excuse, it hasn’t helped that Kevin Love hasn’t played since Dec. 27. That’s been because of a high-grade right calf strain he reaggravated, albeit it does as if he’s working his way back to game action, fairly soon, perhaps.

And for Cleveland, Larry Nance Jr. (fractured left hand) being seemingly set to miss through most of March won’t be the best thing in the world.

That said, the Cavs again do have a ways to go, clearly, as evidenced by how Cleveland had lost 10 straight games heading into Tuesday’s thrilling win over the Atlanta Hawks.

But on a positive note, it’s nice to know that Cleveland has what appears to be a budding star in Collin Sexton. Sexton is again leading the Cavs in scoring this season with 23.1 points per contest, and it’s apparent that he looks to be a crucial part of their foundation moving forward.

Sexton closed out last season particularly strong, and although there have been some rough moments this month, he’s still been largely consistent game-to-game as a primary scoring threat, even with Cleveland often having their share of offensive issues. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, typically, have been bright spots as well in that realm, though.

A key reason that Sexton’s been able to have success thus far, particularly this season and last, has seemingly been his drive/commitment to keep working. And in that regard, a recent Cavs’ clip highlights how Sexton is a tireless worker.

Sexton was getting more shooting work in, even after Cleveland’s W on Tuesday night versus the Hawks, which is on-brand for the dude, really.

A Fox Sports Ohio/Cleveland (at least via that Twitter) showed that sort of thing, additionally.

These clips after the Hawks game showcase what Sexton’s all about, and I continue to be especially high on the Cavs’ third-year guard.

At this point, Sexton’s maniacal work ethic has been well-documented, but these clips/tweets were yet another reminder of how Sexton’s commitment to the game of basketball is truly rare. That’s probably even more so for a player his age; he’s still only 22.

Albeit Sexton does need to continue to develop in other areas, and team defensive feel comes to mind, for one, as while he has shown positive signs as a rotator, Collin does still have lapses off-ball seemingly in games. And though he’s hardly been the only Cavalier to be guilty of it in-game from time to time, not fouling on rip-through moves need to be a point of emphasis, in relation to on-ball on the perimeter for Sexton, for instance.

There still are sequences when Sexton does force it a bit, to an extent, or doesn’t see proper reads to getting other guys looks, whether skip feeds are available and/or Sexton not hitting a rolling Jarrett Allen timely enough via pocket passes.

Dating back to really the turn of the year last season, though, Sexton has shown growth as a passer, as evidenced by him having a better assist clip (4.0) as compared to his overall clip (3.0) for the year in his last 25 games active then. Thus far this season, Sexton’s had his highest assist average (4.2) and assist rate (20.3) in his now-three years in the league, too.

In any case, circling back, Sexton’s work ethic, which is largely the reason he has, along with crediting Cleveland’s player development staff, worked himself into being an efficient three-point shooter.

We do need to continue to see Collin take more of those, as he has lately, and he hit three-of-five on Tuesday, of course. But last week, Sexton emphasized how, albeit he does need to take more game-to-game to really capitalize moving forward, he does “shoot, what, at least 1,000 3s a day,” via Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

The dude hit only 33.6 percent of his three-point attempts in his lone collegiate season at Alabama, and it was clearly a weakness for him coming into the league. It’s definitely not anymore, though, and while it’s been a clip of 34.1 percent in his last 10 games, Sexton had a three-point shooting clip of 40.4 percent and through nearly 2.5 seasons, has a career three-point hit rate of 39.4 percent.

Moreover, those clips above from Sexton, who was getting more work in, after a game in which he had 29 points on 56.3 percent shooting, even while he did have six turnovers and missed a free throw down the stretch (which rarely happens), was telling.

Granted, I do hope Collin is getting his much-needed rest, too, as Fox Sports Ohio commentator Campy Russell alluded to above, and the Cavs play again via back-to-back tonight versus the Houston Rockets at home.

But to drive the point home, Sexton will reportedly, well at least seemingly, be in-line for a hefty contract extension this upcoming offseason, albeit we’ll have to see.

With his drive, though, and consistent growth, which has included him having gotten noticeably stronger each of the past two offseasons, it’s becoming more and more apparent that he should be a significant piece for the Cavs for years to come.

And the leadership element with him is likely showing increasingly day-to-day, one would imagine, too.