Is Collin Sexton worth more than the qualifying offer?

Collin Sexton and his contract situation has been nothing short of the most controversial topic among Cleveland Cavaliers fans this offseason. In fact, outside of Deshaun Watson, I doubt any Cleveland-based athlete has gathered more media in the past few months.

Sexton has been a tremendous scorer throughout his short career, and though he rarely saw the court this season due to a meniscus tear, he likely would have been a 20-point-per-game guy for the third time in his four-year career despite the slow start to this season.

Collin Sexton and the Cleveland Cavaliers have yet to agree to a new contract this summer. Given the market, is Sexton worth more than the qualifying offer?

Unfortunately, that’s all he has shown any above-average ability in at the NBA level. His defense has been underwhelming at best, with disappointing assist numbers, although the rebounding numbers aren’t too bad when taking his six-foot-one frame into consideration.

Sexton has felt like a young and more athletic version of Lou Williams throughout his career. A great scorer that can hurt you in many ways, but if the shots not falling then he offers nothing to help the team.

It’s understandable why the young guard would want a larger contract closer to $20 million per year covering four years as he has been an incredible scorer for his career, especially at the ripe old age of 23.

He’s also had positive signs of growth, increasing by around four points per game every year for his first three seasons. Although, nothing else has gone up except for his minutes and shots attempted.

Still, nobody outside of the Cleveland Cavaliers has offered Collin Sexton a deal, making his value whatever the Cavs feel like paying him.

The rumors are that Sexton has not received an offer anywhere near the four-year $80 million contract he was expecting to be offered. Instead, the offer is closer to a three-year $40 million contract.

For context, the Golden State Warriors have said numerous times that they intend to give Jordan Poole the same amount of money that Collin Sexton is asking for from the Cavs.

Although, it’s not really fair comparing a team like the Warriors to the Cavaliers in terms of spending money, just ask Brian Windhorst.

However, due to the lack of interest from other teams and lack of anything this season to warrant a pay raise, Sexton will have to settle for the money Cleveland is offering him or just play on the significantly smaller qualifying offer that has been offered to him.

Ultimately, Collin Sexton is not worth anything that the Cavaliers aren’t willing to give him. The NBA is a business and if no other team is showing any interest in him and the Cavs lowball him, then that lowball is what he is worth at best. If you can get a player of Sexton’s level to play on a small contract as a team, you are better off.

He has done nothing this year to demand anything larger unless you count 11 games of mediocre play to start the season before succumbing to injuries.

Collin Sexton will more than likely be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, but it will probably be on the qualifying offer so that he can gamble on himself for a bigger contract as an unrestricted free agent next season.