Cavs: 2 key ways Lauri Markkanen will help Collin Sexton’s growth

Despite him being a player mentioned in trade rumors throughout the offseason, it seems as if Collin Sexton could very well stick around with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sexton/his camp reportedly are aware that they it appears won’t get a max contract from the Cavaliers or another team (in a trade sense), per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, but I still would imagine he could receive a sizable deal.

The Cavs and Sexton could potentially execute a contract extension for him still before the outset of next season, and with Sexton’s growth in the past two seasons, I’d like for him to be around long-term, personally.

I understand that Sexton is not the passer of Darius Garland, and Sexton defensively, particularly off the ball, needs to improve in coming years. I get that at times he has tunnel vision; I’m not denying that.

But Sexton is Cleveland’s bucket-getter, and while I do acknowledge he needs to attempt more three-point shots from here, he has developed into a polished three-level scorer. He again led Cleveland in scoring last season with 24.3 points per game on 57.3 percent true shooting, which despite all kinds of inconsistencies around him, was a notable clip.

I again agree that Sexton needs to attempt more threes from him, though, and that’s fair. Both he and Garland I hope will do so, and that is reportedly a focus for them both from Cleveland from here, so hopefully we see that play out. A playmaking presence such as Ricky Rubio for some of the time with either, and a gifted passing big in Evan Mobley should aid Sexton and Garland in that department, too, I’d think.

In relation to Sexton, however, the Cavaliers’ sign-and-trade acquisition of Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls should help his growth in two ways, in particular.

We’ll highlight those for the Cavs’ guard on the rise here.

The first has to do with Sexton continuing to progress in finding skip feeds/kickouts in settled situations and some in secondary transition.