What players make as much as Sexton was offered by Cavs?

What players make as much as Sexton was offered by Cavs? Kyle Kuzma

If we are looking for the player whose situation best fits with Collin Sexton’s current predicament, Kyle Kuzma may be the best one to point to. Kuzma was a first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, coming into the league a season before Sexton. He played well as both a bench player and as a starter for the Los Angeles Lakers, scaling up to a larger role on lottery teams and down to smaller roles on successful teams.

When it was time to negotiate a new deal, Kuzma was on uncertain ground. Despite winning the title with the Lakers in 2020 he was bandied about nearly constantly in trade conversations. It was clear that the Lakers did not see him as a long-term piece, in large part because of fit issues: LeBron James was a power forward, Anthony Davis wanted to play power forward, and it left Kuzma the odd man out.

The compromise that was struck was a three-year, $39 million contract – that is, nearly exactly what the Cavaliers offered to Sexton. Kuzma had proven he could be a rotation player on a really good team, but questions about his efficiency in a larger role depressed his value. Sexton has proved the opposite side of that coin, being decently efficient in a larger role but not yet proving his ability to scale into a smaller role on a great team.

Kuzma had a really solid year last season as a starter with the Wizards, and if he was hitting free agency this season would likely have commanded a higher salary. Unfortunately, he signed his extension coming off a season where he started just nine games and averaged 25 minutes per game. Timing matters, and Sexton is likewise being squeezed by the timing of his free agency as well.