It's hard not to feel bad for Collin Sexton sometimes. First, the former Cleveland Cavaliers guard gets sent packing to the Utah Jazz when the franchise made their move to trade for Donovan Mitchell. After finally being freed from that perpetual rebuild, he just got saddled with another one.
Sexton joined the Charlotte Hornets in the offseason via trade. At first, one would be forgiven for thinking that situation would be as bad for him as Utah. However, the Hornets have hit their stride of late, winning seven games in a row, and placing themselves just outside the Play-In picture.
Sexton has been a solid contributor throughout the season for the Hornets. That still didn't stop Charlotte from taking the opportunity to ship him out of town when the opportunity to add an upgrade arrived.
Shams Charania reported, "Just in: The Chicago Bulls are trading Coby White and Mike Conley Jr. to the Charlotte Hornets for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and three second-round picks, sources tell ESPN."
Collin Sexton is back in a rebuilding situation after Chicago Bulls trade
The Bulls are currently above the Hornets in the Eastern Conference standings. That should not be expected to last long. Chicago has been selling hard and fast in the lead-up to the trade deadline. The decline should be coming just as quickly at the end of all this noise.
Once that time comes, Sexton will be back right where he's been for a few seasons now — stuck on a team with no immediate upward direction. It is a brutal reality for the former Cav to find himself in yet again.
Perhaps Sexton can dream of a potential buyout from the Bulls. The Cavs lottery pick from 2018 is in the final year of his four-year, $71 million contract. Maybe Chicago sees eye-to-eye on allowing him to just walk out the door and pick his next team.
That does not seem like the likeliest of scenarios, though.
Sexton is a cut above the type of players who are bought out at this time of the year. At 27 years old, the tenacious guard is also young enough to not be one of the old-timers who are ring chasing at this stage of their careers during this part of the NBA calendar.
What happens next for Sexton is hard to figure out. The silver lining for the former Cav? He'll get to pick his own team as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.