Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 reasons now is the time to trade Collin Sexton

The rebuild for the Cleveland Cavaliers officially began in June of 2018. LeBron James had not yet officially announced he was leaving Ohio for California, but the writing was on the wall. Armed with the eighth overall pick obtained in the Kyrie Irving trade, the Cavaliers took Alabama point guard Collin Sexton to start the next chapter for the franchise.

Three seasons later, what the Cavaliers thought they were getting in Sexton has changed dramatically. Sexton was projected as a high-motor defensive point guard with questionable shot upside. Instead Sexton has become a questionable defender at shooting guard who is a career 38.5 percent 3-point shooter.

As the Cavaliers look towards the next few seasons of their rebuild, they have some hard questions to ask about Sexton’s long-term viability on the roster. He is eligible this summer for a contract extension, and next offseason will be a restricted free agent. Are they prepared to pay him something close to a maximum contract?

If the Cavaliers aren’t ready to commit to Sexton as a building block of the future, now is the time to trade him. They could wait for the trade deadline, or try to work out a sign-and-trade next summer, but right now is the best time. Here are three reasons not to wait on making a move.

3 reasons now is the time to trade Collin Sexton: Small backcourt won’t work

One reason to wait on trading Sexton could be to continue evaluating his fit alongside Darius Garland in the backcourt. There is some merit to this argument, but it involves some lineup gymnastics to protect the pairing. Big-picture, it is already clear that the pairing of “Sexland” won’t work on a good team.

The reason boils down to defense. Darius Garland is 6’1″ tall, which is survivable on defense for a point guard but not a strength. Sexton is similarly just barely over 6 feet tall (officially listed at 6’1″). Any lineup with both on the court has to find two players on the opposing team to defend, which is difficult even against their fellow rebuilding squads.

Lineups featuring both Garland and Sexton were -6.5 points per 100 possessions (per Cleaning the Glass), and ranked in just the 39th percentile defensively. If Sexton was on the court without Garland, the numbers were even worse: a -11.9 net rating, and in the 13th percentile defensively.

The Cavaliers have tried Sexton alone at point guard, and they know he doesn’t have the playmaking chops to elevate the team around him. Unfortunately they don’t have the personnel to build a viable defense around Sexton at the 2. Rather than waste more time trying to “make it work” they should recognize they’ve already proven this experiment doesn’t work. It’s time to move on.