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NBA Draft: Could Cavs have gone a different direction in 2018?

By Justin Brownlow

Guard Collin Sexton, who was then selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Draft, greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver. (Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
Guard Collin Sexton, who was then selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Draft, greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver. (Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton (#2) handles the ball. (Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports) /

Cavs: Sexton is in Tier 3 of the 2018 draft with players like DiVincenzo and Huerter

In my tiers of that draft, tier two is full of guys like Michael Porter Jr. and Bridges who have showed a lot of two-way promise. I would say the best way to look back on the 2018 draft , is by comparing Sexton to guys like the ones mentioned above.

Sexton has basically out-performed all of them, but they also have different roles. Unlike Sexton, DiVincenzo and Huerter are more of role players. They know what their job in the offense is, and they get it done. In DiVincenzo’s case at least, he is a very good perimeter defender.

Comparing the three isn’t exactly perfect, because as I explained they have different roles. Although, let’s ask the question, how would Sexton compare to the other two if he had the same role?

Honestly, I think Sexton is the absolute perfect sixth man. He’s a young version of Lou Williams, who can come in off the bench and score in bunches. Huerter also does this, but is less consistent than I think Sexton would be in that role. The better comparison is Sexton vs. DiVincenzo.

Obviously, offensively Sexton is far superior. Sexton, even in a lesser role coming off the bench would most likely still score between 16-22 points per game. On the other hand, DiVincenzo only averages nine points per game. But this is where DiVincenzo’s two-way ability comes into play.

Sexton is a horrible on-ball defender, whereas DiVincenzo is a very good one. While playing less minutes than Sexton, he averages over a steal per game. In the end I do think Sexton is better than both players, and would be better if he were in their roles. That is part of the problem.

Sexton is up for an extension this summer, and his agent, Austin Brown, was the architect of Donovan Mitchell’s huge new deal last offseason. It’s realistically likely that Brown will want a deal comparable to Mitchell’s for Sexton.

As Porto also pointed out in his article, though, Mitchell is an actual star, and deserves that kind of money, where Sexton does not.