NBA Draft 2018: Cavaliers take Collin Sexton at No. 8
The Cleveland Cavaliers are in for an offseason of uncertainty. With no commitment from LeBron James, they went with scoring guard Collin Sexton.
Collin Sexton spent one season at Alabama. In 33 games, the point guard averaged 19.2 points and 3.6 assists. He got to the line nearly eight times a game in college, shooting 77 percent from the stripe. He showed a bit of range, finishing the season by knocking down 33 percent of his 3s.
Sexton is one of the more athletic players in the draft and plays with high-intesity, but he’s not a traditional playmaker and his shooting is a bit of a question mark.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired this pick last offseason in the Kyrie Irving trade, their thinking was simple. This is going to be a top-3 pick and if LeBron leaves, we’ll have a huge building block for the future. And if LeBron stays, we can trade this player for whatever immediate help LeBron wants. Unfortunately for Cleveland, the pick fell to no. 8. That’s not to say Sexton won’t end up being the best player in the draft – Donovan Mitchell went no. 13, after all – but the chances of hitting on a superstar decrease as the draft moves along.
This pick makes sense whether LeBron stays or goes. They need a point guard for the future after trading away Irving. If LeBron stays, he can turn the offense over to Sexton for short stretches. Irving wasn’t a traditional playmaker either, but he could get buckets at will. Sexton doesn’t have nearly the same shooting stroke, but he can get to the rim with the best of them. If LeBron goes, the Cavaliers have some instant offense to replace James’ heavy scoring load.
Some will consider this pick a little high as most had Sexton outside of the top-10. But the Cavaliers were in a tricky spot and they addressed a big need, with or without LeBron.