Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton is “very available” on the trade market, sources tell Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. It’s not the first rumor that Sexton might be on the move before the start of next season, but it provides some insight into the team’s strategy as it prepares for the draft and free agency.
Sexton, 22, is coming off a brilliant third NBA season that saw him average 24.3 points per game. He will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the offseason, which is why Cleveland is exploring trade offers. It may take a $100MM deal to keep restricted free agent center Jarrett Allen, and the Cavs don’t want their roster to become too expensive before they’re ready to contend.
Lloyd calls Sexton “a fine NBA player,” but doesn’t see him being worth max money. He notes that backcourt partner Darius Garland was chosen ahead of Sexton for a spot on the U.S. Select Team, which indicates how both players are viewed around the league.
Lloyd asked a rival executive if a package that includes Sexton and veteran forward Kevin Love could be enough to get Ben Simmons from the Sixers, but the executive believes Philadelphia will get better offers.
Sexton’s contract situation is dragging down his trade value, Lloyd adds. Another source told him the team should have tried to move Sexton last offseason to avoid the current lack of leverage and it’s unlikely that Cleveland will get a pick in the top half of this year’s draft in return.
Lloyd adds that Sexton will only be with the Cavs in training camp if they can’t find an acceptable offer.
Sexton to Boston for Smart and a future first
Why would the Cavs do that? Smart would probably walk next year!
Celtics big contracts
Tatum
Brown
Horford 2 more years
Sexton
How to manage salary next year?
Will it matter? If they get a player that turns out to be “fine,” they will just want to trade him instead of paying him anyway.
They just got rid of Walker. Why would they get a younger version of the same player.
Because Walker wasn’t the issue it was his injuries. Sexton is an up and coming point guard who can dish it
Playing 35 minutes a game and recording 4.4 assists per game isn’t exactly “dishing it.” I’d question his ability to be a point guard, as Cleveland is as well since he’s being offered out there and not Garland.
Sexton and a 1st for Smart is a more equitable deal given their production on both ends of the floor.
Say what!!! You must been smoking oking!!
Usually
Very available = don’t have good market
Too available = no market
Bad teams rebuild, won’t offer much for Sexton
Good teams need to manage salary, he wants max
So that means Ben Simmons is very available, or more likely too available.
That’s not going to work it’s all about fit that’s the problem in Boston u can’t put to many scorers together Smart should be a untouchable pieces to Boston
Hahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha, NO.
Horrible deal from Cavs perspective.
Sexton: 24 pts on 47/37/81 shooting.
players with 20+pts/40+/35+/80+
Curry, Beal, Lillard, Middleton, Malcolm B, Terry Rozier, Kyrie and Zach Levine. A total of 8 guys and Sexton was better than the filter levels I set. His scoring has improved each year and so has his assists but I think he’s more of a combo guard. He is a shooter who takes good shots and passes rather than hoisting up bad low percentage shots. He’s better suited at a SG and I think Beal is a great comp. Beal didn’t become a mid 20a scorer until his 6th season. He’s only 1 inch taller.
I don’t get the hate towards Sexton. Ok he’s only 6’1 but so are a lot of small guards in the 6ft-6’3 range and the nba is accepting of that. So what he only averages 4.4 apg, which was an improvement from his other 2 years of 3.0 apg. Like Beal he might be better suited as a combo guy. Why slap the label of a “glorified 6th man” as someone suggested? He shoots at a high efficiency rate and can create his own shot. He’s far from a chucker.
If Cavs feel comfy giving a very limited C in Allen a $100 mil deal and felt comfy giving a downtrending oft injured Love 4/$120 then I think they should be willing to pay up for Sexton, a 23 trending upwards who has a rep as a competitor who wants to be great. I’ve heard his ex coach Avery Johnson and other ex players gush over how hard he worked since grade school getting up at 5am and showcasing his skills in tournaments. He’s had 3 different coaches and staff in his 3 years. He doesn’t have rep as a cancer and while some vets talked about him none put their names on record. We’ve read some of things that LBJs ex teammates said about him his rookie season. I take what they say with a grain of salt. But he’s still a kid. Coach him. Better team defense and better ball movement in a team aspect are both coachable things. Cavs need as much talent as possible. Overpaying is not the best idea but it’s the only way to get talent to stay in Cleveland and I’d rather do so with a kid whos young but has upside than a limited C and declining vet.
Well said.
He just keeps getting better and better.
I think trading Sexton is the right move. One of the big traps for a team rebuilding is committing too much money to the wrong players and maxing out their space before they are really built to contend. I think the Kings are a perfect example of this.
Sexton and Love for Simmons. If that’s the best offer they get, pass. The 76ers off-season will be a huge disappointment to me if they don’t have Lillard as their starting PG when training camp starts.
Get ready to be disappointed. And as a Sixers fan, I’d argue that we have other moves to make besides Lillard.
If cavs want to try to keep Allen getting Simmons who makes 30+ mill isn’t the answer
How would Philly get Lillard? With Simmons? The guy who just 33% from the line this postseason?
Simmons, Maxey, Thybulle, and a couple firsts could intrigue the Blazers
Portland can get more than that for Lillard.
His value around the league isn’t as low as the comment section on here would lead you to believe. And obviously it would be a package deal. Nobody in their right mind is suggesting Ben for Dame straight up.
Stop it with this Dame talk u know Portland ain’t trading him Cj the offer and Ben won’t be traded for no sexton and no Love makes no sense
I think you need to edit your post. Because it makes no sense.
Wonder if lakers would have I interest? Kuzma plus this years 1st?
Why do people think Kuzma has value still?
Dude got rid of his piss dyed hair because he didn’t want to bring more attention to how bad he was playing. Kuzma. should have been dealt a while ago.
I think there a rule you can’t trade first so many years in a row . So I don’t know if we can use our first in a trade
You can’t trade it ahead of the draft, but you can make an agreement to draft a certain player and then trade him directly after the pick. All the Stepian rule says is that a team has to make a 1st round selection every two years, it doesn’t say how long you have to keep the selection.
Why do people think Simmons has value still?
Wallywood
Simmons has overpay contract, but has positive trade value
In accounting
Liability is negative asset
In nba
Overpay contract has positive value
Liability is positive asset
So he played much better and that made his trade value worse? Only in pro sports can this actually be true.
Cleveland just seems content to stay on the perpetual rebuild cycle until they just happen to get lucky and draft the next LeBron in 25 years or so. Without getting LeBron, Cleveland probably wouldn’t have made the playoffs this century. Cleveland, Minnesota, Sacramento, and maybe Orlando all need to be contracted because none of the ownership groups really wants to win. Teams like OKC and Houston might be rebuilding, but at least they have proven they are willing to try hard and be reasonably successful for long periods of time.
True but SexLand is a bad fit long term. Two 6-1 guards in the same backcourt? Portland has proven you can’t built a team around that—Lillard is significantly better than either Sex or Land project to be.
Better to try and get max value for Sexton now IMO.
Portland has not proven that. If anything they have proven the opposite is true. Portland has been to the playoffs 8 straight years with the Lillard/McCollum combination. THAT is success. At least a lot more than LeBron-less Cleveland has ever had.
Cleveland could have that moderate amount of success but only if Sex or Land reach Dame heights. But Dame is a top 10 player. I doubt either S or L come close to that level of play. Personally I would put my coins on Sexton being closer to Lou Will than Dame.
Point about their perpetual rebuild is valid. But shelling out a max contract for Collin Sexton is probably not going to make their future all that bright. And who knows — they might be able to flip him for a player who can play right now but will be a better fit between Garland and Allen
They won’t reach that success if they trade Sexton this off season, because it is basically just taking a year of their rebuild and chucking it.
I agree that Sexton is not worth a max deal, but I do think he could be a solid starting guard in the NBA. People around here are just writing him off as a glorified 6th man based on really nothing but their own guesses. I think paired with the right frontcourt, Sexton could be a borderline All Star guard, maybe even blossoming into and All-NBA type. I am thinking something similar to Bradley Beal’s ascent. Beal was thought to be practically worthless his first few years in the league, but he blossomed. And Sexton has played better in his first few years than Beal did.
Right on — I’m not opposed to Sexton as much as him and Garland together, with Allen as the third piece, which is why I think testing the mkt makes some sense. But I’m with you in that I would want something back for him, not just flotsam and picks.
Ex: I think Sexton in Philly could be ideal for his skillset just in terms of being a foil for Embiid. Same with MIL and Giannis.
To me, he’s probably going to be a poor man’s Devin Booker—a guy who will be perfect as a 2nd scorer next to a dominant star.
In an ideal world, they wouldn’t be together. But since the Cavs did select them, I think they should see what can really do together when they can gel for a couple more years. If Allen progresses the way people think he might and the Cavs pick up a decent forward or two to go with them, I think they could make some noise in the next year or two. Possibly they could be the next Hawks.
I think the best move for them would be down 2-3 spots instead of up. Jonathan Kuminga or Scottie Barnes could be a nice frontcourt fit with Allen and Okoro (if he pans out). They don’t need Mobley with Allen and taking Green would require trading Sexton or Garland. Swapping spots with OKC that might want to move up could pick them up a future 1st as well.
The swap would HAVE to net them another first IMO –
It would be 5+ 8 & probably that 23′ Bulls pick if we are being honest- That’s just the price of that kind of business
Now saying that, If they believe Mobley and Green are 10 x All Star type players over their career ORL should pursue that trade 8 days a week
IF Im Cle I don’t move anywhere, IF I’m Orl I’m at least calling, scratching, clawing towards the direction
For anyone to believe that ANY draft pick is a 10x All Star player is just ridiculous. No draft pick deserves that kind of pressure because there a 99.9% chance he won’t live up to those asinine expectations.
Fans need to learn how to set realistic goals. The goal of every team shouldn’t be to win the championship because 29 of 30 teams will fail to reach that goal and honestly how many teams realistically have a chance at a title each season? Some teams, like the Wizards, should be thrilled to get to the playoffs. Other teams, like the Hawks, should be thrilled to have gotten to the conference finals. The Suns and the Bucks should both be thrilled to be in the Finals. None of those teams should be failures because they didn’t win the championship.
Same for draft picks. Looking at the history of the #2 pick this century, just getting a guy to ONE All Star game would be well above average. Hype does not equal success.
He’s a glorified sixth man at best on a good team. There’s questions about his team play and defense. Not much a passer. Love and Sexton for Simmons isn’t bad.
Ntilikina, Knox and a #1 pick for Sexton.
That’s a terrible deal for the Sixers. Kevin Love is Blake Griffin level cooked.
Reply fail.
Blake actually looked good in Brooklyn tho.
Not sure I like the Love-Embiid fit. I think Love is a 5 now.
But Sexton is the type of player they should be looking to pair with Embiid in a Simmons trade. Perimeter guy who can get them shots down the stretch. Much like Giannis, Joel can win you the first 90% of the game – he just needs a small dude to finish them off.
I wouldn’t want my team to go near Sexton. Some of the advanced analytics on him are really really bad.
His advanced stats are rapidly improving since he was 19. PER 18 from 12, BPM 0 from minus 5… These are not “really bad” and can easily be looked up.
It’s just that the short SG is traditionallly hard to fit in as a starter.
Think he’d honestly do well in Dallas. Though I can’t think of what they have to offer
S/T Hardaway and a pick?
Maybe they’d take a flier on Porzingis? He could make some sense next to Allen and Garland — not sure how much he moves the needle overall tho.
I think Love and Sexton would make Dallas very interesting next season. Although I’m not sure they’d want to sign up for the decision of whether or not to extend Sexton at a max.
Man in a time that the NBA has an abundance of great centers, which by the most go unnoticed & underrated, CLE is willing to let go a budding star player with much potential to retain one of the few centers that hasn’t got much potential or room for improvement?!?!?
I mean seriously, age apart I would take Drummond ahead of Allen every day of the week & twice on Sundays, right?
Drummond is a better scorer & offensive player, better rebounder, passer, blocker & stealer than Allen will ever be, maybe not quite the defender, but that isn’t the job of a center anyway.
Mind you I do like Allen, but he is just a good back up/decent starter, he ain’t never gonna be a top 10 center in the league, so you don’t let go a budding star like Sexton to keep a meh guy like Allen, come on CLE even you can do better than that, right?
I think you are greatly over inflating Sexton’s potential.
Are you Drummond’s agent or cousin?
Allen and Drummond played on the same team and Allen was superior in al.ost every aspect except defensive rebounding. It was embarrassing for Drummond.
I wouldn’t take Drummond above anyone any day of the week. Ok, perhaps above DeAndre Jordan, Tristan Thompson, Hassan Whiteside and other centers who, just as Drummond, barely have a place in today’s league.
Said it in another post but he and Garland are both terrible by advanced metrics. Only difference is the contract stage.
If you put him on a defensive minded team, maybe he develops into a more efficient player. And then let the market decide his value as an RFA.
Knicks for Knox a 1st and a 2nd. Sixers for Shake, 1st and a 2nd. Lakers and Heat could make sense, two playoff teams in need of some scoring. But again you have to think you’re putting him in position to become an efficient player or you can coach him better.
Shit I absolutely abhor Shake Milton minutes but I wouldn’t even do that deal.
Which player helps you more win next year. Shake and whomever they take in the draft this year or Sexton? That’s the question you need to ask. Embiid a window isn’t going to be as long as a LeBron. They need to be in win now mode until he’s cooked.
I don’t think either helps you win next year. I think there is other moves we could make.
I really don’t understand why Cleveland is so averse to matching whatever Sexton can get on through RFA, and work a sign and trade if they really don’t want to keep him on the books.
If they’re worried about costs, they have Prince expiring this year and Love after next – and it’s not a sure thing that they’ll find someone better than Sexton in the next three seasons, with all the other help they need before contending.
Trade ASAP is a good idea
If they overpay Sexton, he has negative trade value
He doesn’t have to get paid. Just make him wait like Collins did in Atlanta.
Cavs are a bad team, don’t want to overpay him
It’s NEVER, first and foremost, about costs, or any other player’s salary (certainly not about veteran contracts on the books). If the FO really likes the player as a core piece for their team, then he’s going nowhere – it may be an early extension, a later extension or a matched offer sheet, but he’s going nowhere (it may be an overpay on this second contract, but he’s still going nowhere). If the FO is putting this out there, it’s because their opinion of the player is mixed, and if that’s not the reason, then they’re stupid (for allowing this drama to be out there when the guy, in reality, is going nowhere).
I think for the top 50 or so players, that’s right; but otherwise you’re basically playing Moneyball against the salary cap with everyone else.
I think at worst, Sexton is an intriguing Sixth-man type for a lot of teams; so I would think he would have to regress to have negative value after RFA. They’ve made themselves look desperate to trade him where they’re probably selling lowish on him if the do trade him now.
The problem with that — and this will probably depress his trade value — is that the RFA game is a dice roll.
Maybe you can resign him at a reasonable rate, but then again maybe some bozo GM offers him the max, and now you’re either losing him for nothing, or signing him to a number that makes him immediately dead weight.
I think the commenters who are against a Sexton trade are assuming the worst here. But Cleveland doesn’t have to ship him out for two 2nd rounders. If the offers are subpar then they can still roll the die on RFA. But then again maybe a team like Philly or Golden State gets desperate as the summer wears on and you can extract max value for him now.
So making him available now and testing the market, to me, is a pretty good move.
CLE is about to face the same dilemma with Sexton that any team faces when it has a rising RFA who’s a valuable player, but not a max guy. With these guys, the next contract (extension or otherwise) can eliminate all his market value (and even turn him into a liability) going forward, easily, since the reference market will be the RFA market (which is an even more artificial market than the general FA market).
The RFA process for these guys generally concludes with them staying with their current team with a frothy contract. If a team doesn’t want that result, it should (as CLE is doing) get out in front of it. Yes, do a real trade prior to the guy becoming an RFA. Once he does, he’s very unlikely to be the subject of a S&T deal that bring back much to the current team.
Valid point, and this trend is yet another way small market teams face an uphill challenge when compared to the destination markets.
The way the draft is set up now, you draft a guy at 19-20, and then you have to start considering extending him well before 25. So while big market teams can look to attract guys at 27-29 when they come off that first extension and know exactly what that max contract is getting them, the team that actually drafted the guy is often giving max or near max deals based on what they project their 23 year old potential star will be.
What Cleveland is doing is smart. No harm in testing the market.
Fans, yes, their other main constituency (ownership). It all comes to a head with these RSC guys, who represent, in many cases, the most measurable successes of the current FO and only visible signs of hope. Can all lead to non-basketball factors coming into play.
But, even on basketball factors, as a GM, I would have no problem overpaying a successful RSC guy on the first extension, and could justify it as part of the cost of drafting 19-20 year olds. I would treat years 5-7 as something of a 3-4 year option period from the start, not materially different than the 3rd and 4th year team options on the original contract. I’ll even capitulate to a “laughable” baby max if I have to do it to match an offer sheet. BUT, I have to want to keep the guy as part of the core, a guy with respect to whom the team has planted its flag.
If he’s not one of those guys (no matter how good he is, as it might not be strictly an issue of quality), then I have to explore the market for him. I think it’s best done before the start of his 4th year, and with a realization that the asset I’m trading carries some baggage (which is a why I’m trading it). None of that means I need to devalue the asset I do have (the RSF for another year, and a call right thereafter, even if in a distorted market) and sell it off for 2nd round picks.
Yea I think your onto something GM’s have probably been wanting to do for awhile but kinda get held hostage by fans –
We get the luxury of a clean canvas to paint on here…they have like 2 million fans yippin at their tails …
But still smart business is smart business …..If its not the mix 5 years from today the optimal move is you trade him Now …..Gut feeling says Lakers would want him bad, assets don’t line up great but always 3 teamers
I often wonder if current FO’s only appear bad because they are being held hostage by the PTB (fans and owners), and their own prior decisions, or they really are bad, because finding and empowering a good FO would be a waste of time since they’re going to be held hostage anyway. Then again, maybe there’s no difference.
Teams that have shopped rising RFAs haven’t had much success (except in getting headlines), but perhaps that’s because they do it too late and expect interest from the teams that are generally looking for young talent. The Lakers are an example of a team that might be undeterred by the problems of acquiring a rising RFA. A potential down the road overpay might be an OK trade off for a lower salary coming in (might be the only way to get a player of the quality in question in the door). Trading team just has to realize that the Lakers won’t have the traditional trade assets to send back.
Sexton is not a team player. All the rumors out of Cleveland is no one wants to play with him. Why would you want or pay this guy. Get rid of him and move on
link to itsgame7.com
link to nypost.com
Front office literally calls this guy “The Cultural Backbone” of the organization then drafted his old teammate in Okoro.
Gtfoh
Did you read the whole post article?
Bulls could use him, he is better than the pgs they have, but there isn’t a trade match that makes sense.
Gonna need a 3 team trade.
Sixers, Cavaliers, Lakers
Sixers get Sexton and Love
Cavaliers get Kuzma + picks and players
Lakers get Tobias Harris
There’s more to make it work, but that’s the general outline of the trade.
Sixers get Sexton and Love to upgrade their team overall, especially 3p%.
Cavaliers take a chance on Kuzma, get picks, and save cap space by not having to give Sexton a long term deal and dealing Love.
Lakers get another scorer in Harris to go with LeBron and AD.
That isn’t a good trade for the Sixers. Love and Embiid don’t fit.
Better than Harris does. I don’t see the problem there.
The part where the Cavs get Kuzma, picks & players though… can they move their 2021 first? They have Caruso & Talen to S&T… but they need depth more than another star.
There’s an alternative explanation. That is, that the Cavs are deliberately leaking this rumor as part of their contract negotiations. Lots of commentary about how Sexton’s value is not what he would like cannot help his agent cut a lucrative deal. Comparisons to other players are almost inevitably negative. Cavs hope he & his agent will lower their sight s. The guy is going to have a long career in somebody’s rotation. Just a question of the right price
Even without a plan to extend him wouldn’t Sexton at just under 7 million this year and just under 9 million next be a good value? Is two years of that not worth a decent return?
They only have one option year (2021-22). The Q/O doesn’t bind him, just gives them the matching right.