It is no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers 2018-19 season has been in shambles from the start.
From the firing of head coach Tyronn Lue six games into the season, and JR Smith publically asking for a trade; things aren’t going according to plan in Cleveland.
Now it seems the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Collin Sexton, hasn’t made a positive impression with the veterans of the team, according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon:
“In on the record commentary, time and again, veterans like Tristan Thompson have made clear there is a divide between the Cavs’ holdover vets from the LeBron glory years — like him, Smith, Frye, and Korver (Tristan didn’t mention Love, who’s gone from the team after foot surgery) — and the team’s mostly unnamed younger players.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that when you hear a Cavs veteran talk about younger players not knowing their role, or knowing how to win, or what to do on the court, they mean Sexton. Throughout the organization, the line on Sexton is that he does not ‘know how to play.’ He doesn’t know how to defend the pick and roll. He doesn’t know how to set up teammates as a point guard… They know he’s 19 and he only played one year of college ball. They still think he’s a nice kid. But they see his deficiencies, they know he’s going to be on the court, and they’re discouraged when after these losses, he doesn’t seem bothered by them.”
Collin Sexton was the eighth overall pick thanks in part to their trade with the Boston Celtics prior to the 2017-18 season that saw Cleveland ship off Kyrie Irving in exchange for the rights to the Brooklyn Nets pick, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder. Thomas and Crowder didn’t finish the season with Cleveland but Sexton is the lone asset remaining from that deal. It makes him the building block for Cleveland after LeBron’s departure from the team this offseason.
Sexton has averaged 11.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game with 41.3 percent shooting from the field.
