What Ayton offer sheet means for Collin Sexton and the Cavs

What Ayton offer sheet means for Cavs: Pacers now have max cap space

The Indiana Pacers waived four players to clear up the space to sign DeAndre Ayton to a maximum offer sheet. None of those players were locks to be in Indiana’s rotation, even in a rebuilding year, although Duane Washington showed some pop last year as an undersized big.

Once Ayton passes his physical and the deal is finalized, a process that could take up to four days, the Pacers will once again have maximum cap space. Given the barren nature of the free agent market at this point, there is no one worth more than a few million dollars…except for Collin Sexton.

If the Pacers want to leverage that cap space again, they could sign Collin Sexton to an offer sheet. Unlike the Phoenix situation, if the Pacers go high enough it’s unlikely that the Cavs would match. If they’re trying to negotiate Sexton down to $14 million per season and he suddenly signs for $25 million a pop in Indiana, they probably wish the former Alabama guard well and let him walk.

Indiana could also leverage that space into a sign-and-trade deal, where they can sign Sexton to a more reasonable number and send an asset or two to the Cavs for their trouble. They could see Sexton and Tyrese Haliburton as their backcourt of the future with Bennedict Mathurin as the 3, and in a 6-month flash establish a young and dynamic perimeter trio.