Cavs: 2 reasons one shouldn’t be worried about Collin Sexton’s outlook

I know that the dude has had his share of detractors over the years since he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, but Collin Sexton has been a heck of a bright spot, particularly in the past two seasons.

The Cavs as a team, whether it’s been because of spacing, coaching change/interior turmoil, injuries, or just lack of cohesion, have often struggled in recent years. In the past two years, regardless of the COVID-19-affected seasons, Cleveland has had only 19 and 22 wins.

I’m not suggesting that Sexton should be completely absolved of blame for that, either. Sexton still has times where he has tunnel vision, he needs to show further improvement as a secondary playmaker, and on the defensive end, his team defensive feel and navigation of screens must get better from here.

All of that being said, on a team that’s had its share of problems and inconsistencies in recent years, Sexton has proven himself as a bonafide three-level scorer. He led Cleveland once again in scoring last season with 24.3 points per contest in Year 3, and even after some rough patches from deep, did still knock in 37.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

Now, it was somewhat of a surprise that Sexton/his representation in agent Austin Brown and the Cavaliers didn’t reach agreement on a contract extension ahead of his fourth season. That deadline on Monday at 6 PM has since passed for those in Sexton’s 2018 draft class.

Sexton/his camp were reportedly “initially hoping” for a deal of $100 million-plus, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, and the two sides couldn’t end up coming to an agreement.

Sexton can be set to hit restricted free agency next offseason, as a result, but the Cavs do want Sexton to be around, as Fedor’s report expressed. Plus, it very well seems that Sexton genuinely wants to be with the team for the long haul, and per Fedor’s report, while the team could match a potential offer, Sexton could end up being re-signed before he hits that.

Now, Sexton in recent media availability did state that he was a bit “disappointed” that his representation and the Cavaliers couldn’t come to an agreement on an extension before this past deadline, via Spencer Davies of Basketballnews.com. As Davies then noted from Sexton, though, he emphasized how his approach “won’t change,” and he’ll keep giving his all and won’t leave his teammates “out to dry.”

Now, I get that some fans might be concerned still about the lack of extension for Sexton. But they shouldn’t be, as Sexton seems to be completely bought-in, and has been here since the beginning of this second-post-LeBron James departure rebuild.

Furthermore, to that point, we’ll stress two key reasons why one shouldn’t be worried about Sexton’s outlook involving the Cavs from here.

The first is along the lines of what we first touched on a bit.

#1: The Cavs clearly still want him to be around for the long haul, and that seems mutual

The first reason fans shouldn’t be worried about Sexton’s outlook/situation with the team is that even with the lack of agreement ahead of Year 4, the team seems to legitimately want him here.

As Davies’ tweet above/report demonstrated, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff hit on how the Cavaliers have put “a lot of time” into Sexton, they “believe” in the dude and they would “love” to have him be involved seemingly moving forward. That was of course before the deadline eventually passed later that day, but those sort of comments show to me that the coaching staff and I’d imagine Collin’s teammates expect him to be around long term.

In that sense, that’d be via new deal next offseason, which while it was a bit of a “disappointment” to Sexton, as noted, I don’t believe that means he doesn’t want to be around.

It’s simply a year where he’ll have to kill it again, and despite maybe many not being fans of that, and I’m not crazy about it, necessarily, he can get the bag next offseason, and I firmly expect that to come from the Cavaliers, one way or the other.

Additionally, I do think that, although it’s coming from Cavs general manager Koby Altman on a Sirius XM NBA Radio appearance recently, he did stress how Sexton seemingly wants to be with the Cavaliers for the long haul, and wants to be a core player for the team as they look to take the next step. That was prior to the extension deadline passing; it was still noteworthy about how Sexton has been with the team from the beginning of the rebuild and has been an exemplary teammate and feels “this is home,” however.

Also, this report/tweet from Kelsey Russo of The Athletic showing Sexton in practice and highlighting how he was continuing to set the right example, even after the deadline passed, was right up that alley involving his intangibles, too.

Clearly, to me, the team still wants to have him around for a very long time, and I think that the feeling is mutual for Collin. And ultimately, I’d think next offseason, Sexton/his camp and the team get something done.

So, from there, next we’ll hit on the second key reason one shouldn’t be concerned about this Sexton dynamic within the team/his outlook.

#2: He’s only gotten better as a three-level scorer, and improved talent around him will only help, which the Cavs I believe will acknowledge

As we touched on, Sexton has only gotten better as a three-level scorer since coming into the league, and last season, that resulted in him having 24.3 points per contest. That was, even with Cleveland’s inconsistencies, on a fairly notable 57.3 percent true shooting clip, which for a guard in his tough situation, was impressive, from my perspective.

Also, while I again get Sexton does need to pull more threes game-to-game in today’s league, that’s reportedly been a point of emphasis, and I think we’ll see that play out. Either way, his impact as a pull-up player in pick-and-roll/off handoffs, and his threat as a driver is key for the Cavs, who are not loaded with those types of players, though some will progress more there, I’d imagine. Isaac Okoro could fit that mold, with his physicality, for one.

Anyhow, although Bickerstaff, as Davies’ tweet stated, noted how him and Sexton have had conversations about ‘impacting winning,”‘ his scoring abilities and efficiency can’t be taken for granted.

But to that point, it’s a plus that offseason acquisitions such as Lauri Markkanen and Ricky Rubio, to some degree, should help Sexton, to go with rookie Evan Mobley.

That’s at least for some stretches with Rubio, a heady playmaker, and in Markkanen’s case, while he did start at the 3 at the Memphis Grizzlies, as Fedor predicted in a report, either way, one would assume he’ll get a bunch of minutes.

I also think that with Mobley, who is a gifted passing big with guard-like abilities and vision, that can only help Sexton’s further development, and I’d imagine it can help with his off-ball growth, as is the case with Rubio.

Now, Fedor’s report did appear to make it seem as if Sexton could potentially come off the bench, however, given what he provides offensively and the constant threat he is, that’d be very hard to foresee happening. Cleveland will use other lineups throughout games, sure, and Isaac Okoro/Dylan Windler will get some burn at the 2, clearly, but Sexton off the bench regularly I’d strongly question.

So to drive it home, though, while I understand some may be worried about Sexton’s outlook, I personally think that the Cavaliers will see him produce at a high level once again, and he’ll be re-signed long term next offseason. That’s with what he provides as a tone-setter, with the team hopefully taking a step forward, I’d hope, too.