Cavs: 3 best trade destinations for Collin Sexton after free agency

3 best trade destinations for Collin Sexton: Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder look like a team that is all-out tanking. They continue to flip veterans for future draft picks, using their cap sheet as a dumping ground for everyone’s bad contracts. All of the draft capital they are picking up is added to the haul they got from moving Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

That gives the Thunder the ammunition to go out and get any player that they like, and there are reasons to think they might like Collin Sexton. The Thunder just inked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, taken in the same draft as Sexton, to a maximum rookie contract extension. Given how good Gilgeous-Alexander is, it will be difficult for the Thunder to completely bottom out this season. The only reason they got as low in the standings as they did last year was “SGA” missing time with a foot injury.

Instead of tanking, the Thunder could start their rebound by trading for a player who averaged 24.3 points per game last season. SGA’s size at the point guard position would allow them to play Sexton alongside him without creating a defensive disaster as happens when Sexton and Darius Garland play together in Cleveland. With No. 6 pick Josh Giddey as a high-level passer on the wing, the Thunder would have an extremely talented collection of ball-handlers moving forward.

The Thunder don’t have much matching salary that the Cavs would be interested in, but a return for Sexton would be about the draft capital anyway. The Thunder have plenty of future picks they can send to Cleveland depending on what the Cavs asked for. They could send Derrick Favors as a backup center as matching salary, or a younger player such as Darius Bazley. They would also take Sexton into one of their trade exceptions and not send back a player at all.

Most likely the Thunder will continue to be patient in their rebuild, but if they do want to take a step now Sexton represents a semi-available player who would fit what they are building in Oklahoma City.