Rest assured, Collin Sexton will be ready physically, if he’s back with Cavs

Collin Sexton and his representation in Klutch Sports have been in negotiations throughout the offseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sexton is currently a restricted free agent, and while there were a number of interested possible suitors in Sexton earlier in the offseason, most of those, for potential offer sheets, dried up.

The 2022 NBA Draft was a big part of the reasoning for that, along with other trades, when it came to teams such as the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards, all of whom were linked to Sexton.

Now, Sexton could still at some point be moved via sign-and-trade, and in that realm, per a recent report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Cleveland had discussions with the Dallas Mavericks about a sign-and-trade involving Sexton. Fedor did then follow up that report by expressing that Dallas didn’t and in theory, the Utah Jazz wouldn’t have components to a hypothetical deal that Cleveland would be interested in for Sexton, though.

As for offers for now for Sexton, the Cavaliers reportedly offered him a deal in the ball park of roughly three years for $40 million, and Sexton/his representation did not bite. Sexton is coming off a season where he was only active in about 10.5 games, which makes things complicated, and the Cavs didn’t want to negotiate against themselves in this instance.

But, Sexton had 24.3 points per contest in the 2020-21 campaign, and 20.8 points per game the season prior in his second year. He had shown growth particularly as a secondary playmaker the past two seasons, and had 4.4 assists per contest in 2020-21, and while the assist-to-turnover ratio didn’t indicate last season early on, he was demonstrating more willingness as a passer and was making some better interior feeds than the season prior.

Nonetheless, it’s tough to say if a possible new deal could be in the cards for Sexton with Cleveland prior to the coming season, and the trade possibility will likely continue to be there. The Cavs do not want to delve into luxury tax territory for the coming season, and Sexton is rumored to be wanting a $20-plus million deal per season.

Both sides couldn’t come to an agreement on the number of years last offseason for an extension, when Sexton was with CAA Sports, and now this go-round, both him/Cleveland have some ways to come to mend the fence on the yearly number, if you will. The Cavaliers could free up some space from the luxury tax threshold by trading Cedi Osman and/or Dylan Windler, seemingly two players often mentioned in that scenario, but we’ll have to see.

Sexton could reportedly play out this next season via the qualifying offer of $7.2 million, for what it’s worth.

What is a positive in this situation, to me at least, though, is Sexton is reportedly “fast” and “explosive,” according to those who have been around him, per Fedor, and he’s been participating in open runs regularly it seems. Sexton was recently playing in a Miami Pro League run (as h/t Ballislife), and those sort of things are good to know.

Rest assured, Sexton will be ready physically, and seemingly mentally, if he is back with the Cavs this season.

Again, I’m not saying it’s a guarantee that Sexton plays with the Cavs this coming season, as there have been some sign-and-trade rumors during the offseason, and negotiations haven’t seemed to budge between both sides of late. Time will tell if the Cavaliers and Sexton do potentially come to a long-term agreement, and the possibility for a Caris LeVert extension is a storyline, too, in that realm.

It is reassuring, however, that Sexton appears to be fully healthy now, based on him seen playing in that Miami Pro League run, and Fedor’s report reiterates that the ultimate worker in Sexton has been busting his tail off in rehab from his meniscus tear last season.

Now, again, we’ll see if he is ultimately back with Cleveland, whether that’s via the QO or a new deal. The Cavaliers are reportedly among teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, with others in there, that are said to have interest in Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, as an aside, per John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix.

Ian Begley of SNY reported that Cleveland has touched base with Utah about a potential Mitchell trade, too. Begley did report that “Cleveland’s level of interest is unknown,” but that the Cavs could have an attractive package; I do question given how much it’d cost for Mitchell how serious the Cavs would be, in fairness.

Anyways, as it pertains to the Sexton element for this coming season at least, I still believe he could have a notable impact for the Cavaliers, whether it’s as a bench guy playing his share of minutes still, or eventually again as a starter. Sexton having a chance to play real meaningful minutes with guys such as Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, too, could be huge for him, in my opinion.

Either way, if Sexton is back with the Wine and Gold this coming season and/or potentially given a new deal with Cleveland, I do believe after rehabbing, while there inherently would be some rust, he should be right physically it seems.

The above report from Fedor was encouraging in that regard, and to me it just further illustrates how Sexton, who will be turning 24 this coming season, is never going to change as a tireless worker and his attitude is exemplary.

I personally hope that there’s much more of Sexton to come with the Cavs, who could really use his slashing, shot-making and secondary playmaking, but time will tell on that front.