Cavs: Either of Collin Sexton or Darius Garland can close

Cavs: Sexton is a go-to guy, and has done it before

Last season, Sexton again led Cleveland with 24.3 points per outing, and even with inconsistent spacing around him, did so on 57.3 percent true shooting. That clip was more than respectable for a young guard, particularly with the injuries Cleveland had last season, too.

In closing situations/down the stretch of games for the Cavaliers, getting down to it, depending on how games are playing out/which teammates are in a nice rhythm around him, I would still expect Sexton to get his share of looks in these scenarios.

Sexton is more than capable of creating for himself in closing opportunities, with his ability to change speeds off-the-bounce, get to the free throw line a healthy amount and with him getting more comfortable as a catch-and-shoot player last season. Even with a rough patch in March when he hit only 33.9 percent, he did still knock in 37.1 percent from deep last year, and throughout his career, has hit 38.5 percent from there.

Now, although Sexton does need to shoot more threes from here, he’s vastly improved since coming into the league from Alabama as a deep threat, and in his fourth season, I’d imagine that he’ll lean more into deep shooting. That’s reportedly being stressed for him and Garland by the Cavs, too.

But circling back, with Sexton’s abilities to create on-ball in a variety of ways, even with plenty of defensive attention, makes him a good closing option for Cleveland.

His quickness, pull-up feel and improved strength/finishing should pay off I believe more from here in crunch time. And in instances last season early on at the Atlanta Hawks, and against the Brooklyn Nets in an overtime thriller, for example, his closing work was huge.

He’s proven his worth for the Cavaliers in that realm in other occasions, too. In a W versus the Toronto Raptors in March in getting to the line that was on display, and in sealing a victory at the Houston Rockets in similar fashion and with his bucket-getting against the Boston Celtics also in March, that played out.

When the opportunity is knocking for him, Cleveland can assuredly go to Sexton in these situations to close.

But of course him looking to hit shooters such as Garland some, Lauri Markkanen and/or perhaps Kevin Love could help via kickouts as a counter; in Year 4, I’d think we’ll see those looks from Sexton to them, too, given his secondary playmaking growth in Year 3.

So from there, we’ll examine how Garland could be a viable closing option for the Cavaliers next season, too.