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Collin Sexton | The Young Bull

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What Resolves First?

  • Collin Sexton's Restricted Free Agency

    Votes: 19 38.8%
  • Baker Mayfield's Tenure with the Browns

    Votes: 30 61.2%

  • Total voters
    49
  • Poll closed .
I just kind of figured out that Collin Sexton reminded me of Andre Miller c. 2000 Cavaliers. Miller (and Z) were pretty much the only reasons to watch. Dude just went about his business. Sexton was the same guy in 2018/2019 post-Lebron Pt. 2. Best of luck to him. He landed in a pretty good spot for himself in terms of contract, given how things played out this past year.
 
I just kind of figured out that Collin Sexton reminded me of Andre Miller c. 2000 Cavaliers. Miller (and Z) were pretty much the only reasons to watch. Dude just went about his business. Sexton was the same guy in 2018/2019 post-Lebron Pt. 2. Best of luck to him. He landed in a pretty good spot for himself in terms of contract, given how things played out this past year.
Great comparison... Andre Miller and then Ricky Davis (after Miller was traded to tank for LeBron) were the only reasons to watch the Cavs. But as much as I loved Ricky, out of respect to Collin, I won't compare him to Davis. He's better than that. I am still in awe at how efficient Collin was during 2020-21, on a bad team.
 
Thank you, Collin!

A tireless worker and example to all his teammates in the dedication to the craft.

I really did wish it could work out as he is the exact sort of guy for Cleveland.

I wish him the best and hope for his success in Utah!
 

It’s somewhat ironic that he was traded for another undersized, high-scoring guard. Sexton and Mitchell have similarities at an extreme surface level: Sexton’s 34.0 points per 100 possessions on 57.3 True Shooting in 2020-21 is a first-glance doppelgänger for Mitchell’s 37.8 points per 100 on 57.2 True Shooting a year ago.
The difference is that Mitchell is at least an average passer and defender, while Sexton is … let’s call it a wee bit less than average. Sexton is one of the worst defenders in captivity by most advanced metrics, and his inability to play point guard at 6-1 exacerbates that issue. His best role on a real team is likely a high-volume second-unit bucket-getter, but he’ll likely be the go-to guy once Utah finishes its teardown.
So why four years and $72 million for Sexton? Because that was the only number that worked.
On the Jazz’s end, they couldn’t pay him any more without putting other players in the deal. The most 2022-23 salary Sexton could make in this version of the trade was $17,545,911. Sending another player from Utah to Cleveland to increase that amount would have put the Cavs perilously close to the luxury tax. As ever, having an upper limit set by outside forces is an expedient way to push contract negotiations to their conclusion.
 
Imagine losing interest after acquiring a 25/5/5 guy who shows out in the postseason without losing any significant pieces and somehow losing interest because Sexton is gone.

I admit - that "losing interest" part was overreaction. I love how Mitchell plays, and this move will probably put us in the top four in the Eastern Conference. Both Garland and Mitchell have played well with Rubio before.

But I am surprised to see the haul Utah has managed for a player who may not be top-20 in the league. Mitchell is a fantastic player - no doubt - but THREE unprotected FRPs for him?!! It seems similar to the housing market in the recent past - if you're a seller, just name a price - any price!
I mean, it's like the inflation has creeped in in the NBA trading market, too. May be Fox 'News' was right all along - this inflation is like none other!

There is also the question of fit. How would another 6-1 guy fit in? Every team and situation is different, but such small back courts never become real title contenders. And if that is not our goal - and we just want to make some noise in the play-offs - couldn't we wait to see what the pre-trade roster could achieve?

Lastly, "because Sexton is gone" is not the only, or even the main, concern. The concern is that we mortgaged the future for a questionable fit even though he is a great player. Also, more than Sexton, I wanted to see how Ochai would pan out.
 
I admit - that "losing interest" part was overreaction. I love how Mitchell plays, and this move will probably put us in the top four in the Eastern Conference. Both Garland and Mitchell have played well with Rubio before.

But I am surprised to see the haul Utah has managed for a player who may not be top-20 in the league. Mitchell is a fantastic player - no doubt - but THREE unprotected FRPs for him?!! It seems similar to the housing market in the recent past - if you're a seller, just name a price - any price!
I mean, it's like the inflation has creeped in in the NBA trading market, too. May be Fox 'News' was right all along - this inflation is like none other!

There is also the question of fit. How would another 6-1 guy fit in? Every team and situation is different, but such small back courts never become real title contenders. And if that is not our goal - and we just want to make some noise in the play-offs - couldn't we wait to see what the pre-trade roster could achieve?

Lastly, "because Sexton is gone" is not the only, or even the main, concern. The concern is that we mortgaged the future for a questionable fit even though he is a great player. Also, more than Sexton, I wanted to see how Ochai would pan out.

1- I am not here to get into a Sexton debate again but we just dumped a net-negative defender who was average-at-best in terms of efficiency on the offensive end. He is not nearly as important to this team's future as people made him out to be and I don't think he's capable of being a productive player if he's not dominating the ball. The other side of that, if he is dominating the ball, it's not a good thing because it's not conducive to winning. I genuinely think it's addition by subtraction just getting him off the roster.

2 - I don't think Utah's haul is that impressive especially considering it seems like they turned down a better package from the Knicks and especially since they pulled 4 1st rounders for Gobert. You already know how I feel about Sexton. I like Lauri and Ochai (I was a big fan of the Ochai selection), but they are absolutely expendable in this deal. The first round picks? I'd have to imagine the Cavs believe by adding Mitchell, those picks hold little value given the makeup of the roster and 3 picks past the 20 mark is going to likely net them maybe one valuable NBA player based on the odds.

I also don't get caught up in the height factor when it comes to players like this. NBA champions come out of creating their own style and narrative. People thought you couldn't win without a quality post player until the Bulls came along. MJ couldn't win a title being the player he was (ball hog, not the greatest teammate early on, low efficiency jump shooter) and he ended up becoming the greatest ever. The guy who coached that team to 6 titles and Lakers to 5 more came out saying you cant win titles shooting 3's so much, until it happened... several times over. People were criticizing the Cavs last season for playing twin towers in the middle that don't necessarily stretch the floor and they were competing for a top 4 seed until injuries decimated them down the stretch. His height shouldn't be an issue due to his athleticism and all around game. If he struggles defensively, it will be more about defensive skill than being 6'1".

My point is that champions rarely follow the rules in terms of "how to win a title". Champions tend to innovate and break the mold of what we all think wins titles. I think a Garland / Sexton backcourt is an issue for reasons going beyond height. He's one of the few guards that actually rates lower than Mitchell defensively and Mitchell's defensive rating was relatively high last year, mainly because the players around him mask his deficiencies and when you look at the makeup of this roster, it's not much of a stretch to assume the two big men in the paint in Cleveland will provide similar support if not better.

The Cavs taking their shot now makes sense. They could've waited to see out the roster and how it performed, but they had a litany of assets right now that were going to do nothing but depreciate here over time (except maybe Ochai) and using them now to acquire an all star with an excellent individual playoff resume who can create on his own makes sense.

I love this trade. If Mitchell was a malcontent who had spats with teammates and was a square-peg, round-hole fit in this team, I'd be worried. But he's an absolute class act who is loved around the league and seems to fit the Cavs pretty well.
 
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Good to see Sexton take the $72 million. I know he wanted $20 / yr but this sets him up for life. He can pile up points on a bad team for awhile. It just wasn’t a good fit any longer in Cleveland.
That's what this is, a total home run for Sexton. He gets to go back to his preferred role – a fake "top dog" on a bad team, a ballhogging gunner with no conscience whose job it is to entertain the fans while Utah waits for the real difference makers to arrive.

And he got paid on top of that.

The Cavs really did a number on Lauri, though. What a giant fuck you by Koby. Never saw this coming.
 
That's what this is, a total home run for Sexton. He gets to go back to his preferred role – a fake "top dog" on a bad team, a ballhogging gunner with no conscience whose job it is to entertain the fans while Utah waits for the real difference makers to arrive.

And he got paid on top of that.

The Cavs really did a number on Lauri, though. What a giant fuck you by Koby. Never saw this coming.

Utah wouldn't have wanted him if he hadn't played well last year.

Gonna miss Sexton. I said over and over we don't have a guy on the team who can replicate what he is capable of, but they found somebody when they traded him.

I hope he gets to refine his playmaking skills. He still has a lot of upside if he does
 
I loved sexton all the way till this summer on the contract negotiations. I know is business but he turned down a nice hefty offer last year and still thought he was a 100m player. Im sure at the bottom of all this crap im sure he felt some type of way of garland stardom I mean the kid hasn’t even said thank you Cleveland. It is what it is. Good luck young bull on your future endeavors
 


The whole time watching this YouTube video about ten NBA players who fumbled the bag, I was thinking about Sexton and his current situation (not to mention the offer he already reportedly got last offseason). Then, at the end of the video, Sexton is the only player mentioned in "who could be next?" I wish him the best.
No way Sexton ends up as one of those guys. He's smart, disciplined, and driven.

Good luck to Colin in Utah. Maybe I'll catch a Jazz game on my way through SLC sometime.
 
I loved sexton all the way till this summer on the contract negotiations. I know is business but he turned down a nice hefty offer last year and still thought he was a 100m player. Im sure at the bottom of all this crap im sure he felt some type of way of garland stardom I mean the kid hasn’t even said thank you Cleveland. It is what it is. Good luck young bull on your future endeavors

Yeah... I was never a Sexton guy. Hate watching guards who play selfishly. His distorted self confidence in contract value put me over the edge.

Hope his ass likes salt!
 
They said he'd never be able to shoot, and he improved. They said he'd never be efficient with the ball, and he fixed that. They said he'd never be a good teammate, but we have him to thank for helping to establish the current Cavs culture. They said no one would ever trade for him, and he becomes a key piece in the move for a young star. They said he'd never get paid, and he got paid as much as anybody could pay him.

Grateful for what he brought us. Hope he balls out in Utah and keeps proving the naysayers and hot talers wrong.
 
They said he'd never be able to shoot, and he improved. They said he'd never be efficient with the ball, and he fixed that. They said he'd never be a good teammate, but we have him to thank for helping to establish the current Cavs culture. They said no one would ever trade for him, and he becomes a key piece in the move for a young star. They said he'd never get paid, and he got paid as much as anybody could pay him.

Grateful for what he brought us. Hope he balls out in Utah and keeps proving the naysayers and hot talers wrong.


These takes drive me nuts and I shouldn't let it get on my nerves but it does.

  • Sexton has never been an overly efficient guard. Even as he's improved his efficiency numbers, they still ranked him somewhere in the middle of the pack amongst starting guards. He also did so on high usage rates and low assist percentages so I think some Cavs fans are using the term "efficient" way too loosely when talking about Sexton. Through 11 games to start the season, he was playing more off the ball (as he should) and he put in 2 or 3 good performances and twice as many disastrous ones. It would have been nice to see if he could improve in that role, but at no point in any of his development from AAU through his first few years in the league has he shown the ability to play team basketball when said team basketball doesn't involve him pounding the ball or ball stopping.

  • I honestly do not get where this narrative came from that he established the current Cavs culture. For starters the vast majority of players Collin played with before last season -- a successful season (by recent standards) largely without him -- are gone. The Drummonds, McGee's, Prince's, Nance Jr's, Porter Jr's are all gone. And in the seasons leading up he's had clashes with teammates -- most notably Love and Jarrett Allen. He played here for three seasons on bad teams, padded his stats and lost a lot. Sure we all here the stories about how much of a basketball junkie and hard worker he is but it never really lent to improved team play and winning basketball.

It's going to take about 1 game for people to see Mitchell and realize "Oh wow we compared Collin to this guy?" and the fanbase's memories of Sexton will slowly start to fade.
 
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