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.
#1: Markkanen’s presence should help Sexton find more kickouts/skips for the Cavs
Markkanen has had injury issues in recent years with Chicago, and that, and some changes around him didn’t exactly lead to a boost for him in the past two seasons, especially, from a developmental standpoint.
But it’s clear that Markkanen is a heck of a catch-and-shoot threat, and while Kevin Love, when healthy, has helped Sexton some with his feel for finding kickouts/improving his willingness on drives to see those, it’s tough with Love’s health.
Markkanen has again had injuries too in the past few seasons, although Love was active in just 25 games last season because of a right calf injury and he seems likely to have a reduced role with the Cavs from here.
On the plus side, the 24-year-old Markkanen, even with possibly coming off the bench, with Evan Mobley in mind, should receive a ton of minutes still. And his perimeter shooting presence should help Sexton again with his growth in finding more skips/kickouts.
He improved on that last year, and did have 4.4 assists per contest in 2020-21, but Sexton now having a 7-foot stretch big like Markkanen could allow him to further develop in that way more in coming years. Markkanen is a player with very deep range, even for a big, and last season, he knocked in 40.2 percent of his 5.8 three-point attempts per game.
Sexton could feasibly be able to show more development in hitting skips and help have more impactful ball reversals with a pure shooter like Markkanen aiding Cleveland’s spacing when he’s in there as well, which shouldn’t be discounted.
And even with Sexton more so being a secondary playmaker mostly, that shooting presence of Markkanen, who is capable as a movement shooter too, should help open up Sexton for pull-ups himself. Or it could help him find cutters with the attention Markkanen could draw off-ball, conversely.
#2: Markkanen will help Sexton’s finishing growth for the Cavs
Secondly, it’s not exactly rocket science, but Markkanen’s spacing/shooting element should help Sexton continue to develop into a more effective finisher.
Last season, it was evident that Sexton coming into Year 3 stronger and more put together led to him improving as a finisher on drives/cuts in settled offense and in transition.
After he demonstrated improvement in that area in Year 2, when he had 28 And-1s and looked to be taking on contact more, he took that a step further in Year 3, when he had 39 And-1s.
That wasn’t even with a stretch big like Markkanen, who again can knock down looks off movement, in the fold, as Love and Sexton took time to get their chemistry down, to an extent at least the season prior. And Love was hampered by injury last season, as we noted; their chemistry is now far better than earlier on, but Love’s role will likely be reduced.
In any case, with Markkanen seemingly getting his share of playing time next season/looking onward with Sexton, whether that’s with Jarrett Allen/Evan Mobley on with him, Sexton should have a bit wider lanes, and he’ll be able to get downhill more.
In turn, and this includes transition, where Markkanen is a knockdown threat as a trailer/wing lane filler, Sexton should be able to have momentum leading to the rim, where his strength should lead to him showing further growth in the restricted area.
The shooting element of Markkanen, who could be a screener for Sexton at times too, should enable Sexton to get perhaps a half step more with helpers a bit more hesitant to help to him as well.
That should lead to him being able to get downhill easier and could aid Sexton in initiating contact, generating again his share of free throws and in the transition game once again.
He’ll be even tougher to account with a potential shooting threat of Markkanen, who runs the floor far better than a player like Love at this point, also.
Sexton had 4.2 transition points per contest last season and placed in the 69th percentile on a 14.7 percent frequency, for what it’s worth, per Synergy Sports. Markkanen on the floor with him a considerable amount will only make him more dangerous there.