The Cavaliers slump should make bringing back Collin Sexton a priority

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to pivot to the idea of bringing back Collin Sexton

Admittedly, I’ve been back and forth on this issue. Every month I’m of a new mindset. Early on in the year, Ricky Rubio made Collin Sexton completely replaceable. The ACL tear to Rubio, however, has hindered the Cavaliers and the team just hasn’t been as efficient without Rubio. The best play was to offer Rubio a new deal and re-sign him despite the injury but that’s not what the team did.

They instead traded Rubio and a first-round pick for Caris LeVert. On one hand, LeVert has provided some solid offense every few games or so. On the other hand, in the games where he’s not solid, he’s an absolute albatross offensively.

We thought his “length” would make him a good, or at least a viable defender, but he hasn’t been. Maybe we should retire the “length = good defender” theory that so many NBA “experts” keep throwing around. Isaac Okoro has alligators arms (compared to others) and he’s an incredible defender.

LeVert isn’t a good enough defender to keep around and his shooting splits in Cleveland have not been good; shooting just .430/.345/.710 in 15 games. His three-point shooting is up .022 points, sure, but everything else is down from his numbers in Indiana. His assists are way down (4.4 with the Pacers, 3.5 with the Cavs) but his turnovers have remained about the same.

He isn’t an awful player, that’s not what’s being said here, he just isn’t a fit. The Cavs would be wise to trade LeVert, recoup whatever they can, and focus their effort on re-signing Sexton.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would be better with Collin Sexton and not Caris LeVert

The Cavs shouldn’t overpay to get Sexton, but offer him what LeVert is making per year. That seems fair. Sexton is a hyper-efficient mid-range scorer, and with the Cavs developing more of an outside shot this season, the team no longer needs Sexton to be that guy from three.

Darius Garland, Kevin Love, and others can carry that load for 2023.

Sexton is a more efficient scorer than LeVert and that alone makes LeVert expandable. Plus, with his expiring contract, he may make a team take a second look at the Cavs if a major deal is on the table. Had LeVert been better defensively, maybe we wouldn’t be here and talking about retaining Sexton over LeVert.

Now, some will argue that you could keep both, but you really can’t. They play similar styles, even if they aren’t the same type of player. They’re both ball-handlers who like to create with the ball in their hands. Both men have also shown the ability to play alongside Garland to some degree, so it’s not like they need the ball.

Yet, neither man is going to be in the starting five next year, which means they’ll have to play off of one another instead. Can that work? Sure, it’s possible, it’s just not likely. Especially if Cedi Osman and Love return for the 2022-2023 season.

Recouping what you can from LeVert and re-signing Sexton makes the most sense for efficiency sakes, but as we’ve seen before, sometimes the most logical moves don’t pan out.