King James Gospel
Fansided

Pros, cons of BR’s Sexton trade idea for Cavs and Mavericks

By Josh Cornelissen

Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Cavs
Dwight Powell, Dallas Mavericks and Anderson Varajao, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images /

Cons of BR’s Sexton trade idea for Cavs and Mavericks

Reggie Bullock is not a star. He’s also not young, as this upcoming year will be his age-31 season. He is not going to develop into anything more than a 3-and-D player. That’s a valuable role, and one Bullock filled well last season as a starter on a Western Conference Finalist, but it doesn’t offer much upside.

Collin Sexton still does, at least to some extent. He is just two seasons removed from averaging 24.3 points per game and has legitimate on-ball shot creation verve. There aren’t many players in the league who can score like that with reasonable efficiency. The problems for the Cavs in bringing him back on a lucrative deal are his poor defense, fit with Darius Garland, vanilla playmaking and a host of advanced metrics that support choosing Garland over him. Yet the Cavs would be giving up on a possible star.

The Cavs would also have a roster crunch. They are at 15 players without including Sexton; flip him for two players, and suddenly they’re at 17. Do they give up a valuable player in a salary-dumping move, or do they have to spend an asset to move someone who is more of a negative-salary? The Mavs could take back Dylan Windler in a deal to help, and if Cedi Osman is then moved to another team with cap space they should be able to slip under the luxury tax line.

Finally, the Cavs would be absolutely flush with bigs. Jarrett Allen starting at the 5, backed up by Kevin Love, with Robin Lopez worthy of minutes behind him, and Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen both intriguing options at the 5 too. Add in Dwight Powell and the roster is precariously weighted towards that end. These are not insurmountable challenges, but they have to be weighed.