Cleveland Cavaliers: Two areas where Collin Sexton must improve

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton took a massive leap from Year 2 to Year 3 in the NBA. In the 60 games he played, Sexton became a crucial piece to the Cavs offense leading the team in scoring by averaging 24.3 points per game on efficient 48/37/82 shooting splits.

There were times last season when the Young Bull looked like an All-Star; his ability to take over a game at any point made him a threat which was on show during his career-high 42-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets. In that one, 22 points of his came in the two overtime periods, which included him scoring 20 straight points for Cleveland.

Though Sexton’s elite scoring makes him a promising young player, there are still some areas that the 22-year-old guard must improve on if he hopes to get to an All-Star level.

Here, we’ll highlight two areas, in particular, where Sexton needs to improve for the Cavs.

The first is on the other end.

#1: Sexton needs to show more progress on defense for the Cavs

One of the few flaws in Sexton’s game is his perimeter defense. Though a defensive rating of 114.0 isn’t necessarily the best gauge of his effectiveness there, it’s apparent that he still often struggled on-ball against opposing players during this now-past season.

There were flashes of him being highly capable, albeit the consistency was not there.

Being able to get crucial stops against some of the best guards in the NBA is essential for getting wins and Sexton will need to show more progress in that regard next season/moving forward.

That’s provided he’s around, as for reference, two NBA people recently suggested the idea that from a cap standpoint also factoring in a likely Jarrett Allen sizeable contract extension, that Cleveland could potentially look to trade Sexton.

That’s reportedly per Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer, but the Cavs haven’t seemingly shown any interest in dealing Collin. And it’s tough to read much into that, and it would appear that Sexton could end up being extended this offseason.

Moving on, the second key area where Sexton needs to improve relates to his playmaking/vision.

#2: Sexton needs to improve as a playmaker for the Cavs

Another wrinkle in Sexton that he can improve upon is his playmaking ability. There were times when Sexton seemed to be too ball-dominant last season, which at times stalled the Cavaliers offense. If Sexton wants to reach the next level, becoming less ball-dominant and more of a playmaker for others would be crucial to his success and would help as a counter to his impressive paint scoring abilities.

Now, Darius Garland is Cleveland’s primary playmaker for the most part, but Sexton’s vision getting better, at least in the secondary playmaking sense, would be impactful.

Last season Sexton averaged 4.4 assists per outing, which was fine.

However, him showing more growth in that area/with his vision would not only make Sexton better but would aid others such as Garland, Isaac Okoro and others. In turn, that’d improve the Cavs offense as a whole after they ranked towards the bottom in offensive rating last season and last in points per game.

Hopefully we see more progress in these areas for Sexton next season/in coming years.