Cleveland Cavaliers trading Collin Sexton would be a mistake

Why the Cavs shouldn’t trade Sexton

There is a very simple argument as to why Sexton should not be traded. That argument being that he is by far the best player on the team and he seems content in Cleveland.

The Cavs do not have the greatest track record of drafting players and Sexton is one of the few picks that they really knocked out of the park. He is well on his way to being an All-Star within the next couple of seasons if not more, and seems to like how things are coming along in Cleveland.

And the Cavaliers especially with the current state of their roster are not a free agent destination. Having a player like Sexton willing to stay for a long term deal eliminates the need to try to find another player of his caliber in free agency.

Sexton is emerging as an elite scorer. He was only in his third year and put up nearly averaging 25 points per game on rather efficient shooting. This now-past season, he was only a collective 13.9% off from joining the 50/40/90 club.

As his shot selection becomes better and less defensive attention is forced on him, this is a feat he may be able to accomplish.

There are only two main knocks on Sexton. The first being his playmaking and the second being his defense.

However, both of these can be explained a way rather easily.

In terms of playmaking, ever since he joined the team, Sexton has been relied upon to be the main driver of the Cavs offense. There are certain stretches of the game in which the Cavs do not score if Sexton does not score.

In terms of his defense, the stats do not paint a pretty picture for him, but, context makes things look much better for Sexton.

And the Cavaliers have mostly been an atrocious defensive team since Sexton was drafted to them leading to a high defensive rating for Sexton.

Along with this, despite not averaging many steals or deflections per game, Sexton has grown signs of growth on-ball, albeit the off-ball defense/feels needs improvement. The effort is there, though, and in the situation he’s been in, one shouldn’t gloss over that.

Rarely can a young player thrive on the defensive end just as they come into the league. Expecting Sexton to be an exception to this without giving him much time to be established in the NBA is rather unfair to him and does not give the Cavs the grounds to trade him.