Cavs: Obi Toppin is not a piece the Cavaliers should pursue in a trade

Knicks fans are hoping to get Collin Sexton in a trade built-around Obi Toppin.

The future of Collin Sexton is up in the air at the moment. For any intents and purposes, Sexton is and will remain a Cavs player until such a time where he isn’t. Whether that’s because he leaves in free agency, gets traded, or retires years from now. That can always change, especially if the right trade comes around, but no “right trade” is going to feature Obi Toppin of the Knicks as the centerpiece of any potential trade.

Sure, many Clevelanders, myself included, was high on Toppin coming out of Dayton and many thought he’d fit in nicely with Sexton and company in a run-and-gun offense. The problem came what to do with the few players who can’t run that type of offense? Well, we arm-chair drafters never had to answer that question as Toppin wasn’t drafted by Cleveland but by New York. The Cavs got Isaac Okoro, the better option.

Toppin hadn’t done anything his entire rookie year to warrant being the centerpiece of a trade for a borderline All-Star shooting guard. That’s not to say he’s trash and has no value, but like with the Kevin Love trade to Cleveland, the Cavs sent back Anthony Bennett to the Timberwolves. Bennett was an add-on, it was Andrew Wiggins the Timeberwovles wanted.

So we’ll take Topping, but he’s not the guy to build the trade around.

Collin Sexton should net a high trade-pice.

Collin Sexton is a young, ball-dominant, inside scoring guard. He’s not much of a perimeter player, and his defense is among the worst in the league but if you put him on a team like the Clippers or Heat, where he’d be coming off the bench 30+ minutes a night, ala Manu Ginobli, he’s a huge get.

He’ll cost a lot both in a trade or financially but if all you need is another scorer, maybe as a second or third option, then Sexton is the right guy for you. That said, the idea that you could get the trade done with a busted rookie like Toppin is laughable.

In a recent trade article from Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley suggested a trade of Toppin, Kevin Knox, and the 32nd pick in the draft for Sexton. Two busted prospects and a first-round pick that barely even qualifies as such.

A terrible deal. The Cavs would need back a lottery pick at least, as well as a priced prospect. That’s just the bare minimum. If we’re going with the Knicks, it’d need to be two first-round picks, Toppin and Immanuel Quickley before I even consider pulling the trigger.

That’s only to even start the conversation. Sexton is worth a lot, especially since the consensus on him is that there isn’t one. Some think he’s a star in the making, others think he’s an empty-stat machine.

So gouge whoever wants him for as much as you can take them for if. That is, if, after all, you really want to trade him.