Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 positives from Collin Sexton

2. Opposing point guards struggling to score

Sexton didn’t earn nickname “Young Bull” because he moves like a cow. The gritty point guard is a gnarly defender, eagerly sticking his nose into opponents’ bubbles. He posted an impressive 105.2 defensive rating in college. That’s in the ballpark of where Jrue Holiday was (103.6) when he earned All-Defensive team honors last year.

Over a recent impressive stretch, he’s locked up star point guards. Sexton helped hold John Wall to eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. Prior to that, Kemba Walker scored just seven points in nearly 36 minutes, often guarded by Sexton. Walker went only 2-for-16.

It was a massive step forward for Sexton, who is now starting regularly for Cleveland. He proved he’s capable of neutralizing opposing elite guards. There are few qualities more important in the NBA.

Those two performances, although understandably overlooked because of the Cavaliers’ struggles, may be remembered as the moment Cavaliers fans first breathed a sigh of relief.

Sexton expressed how valuable the experience of facing the two All-Stars was for his development:

Sexton said it helped him “stay on my toes,” but it appeared it was Sexton keeping his star opponents on their toes, outscoring his counterparts — Wall and Walker — by a combined 40-15 margin in those contests.

Look, Sexton lacks the offensive skill of Trae Young. But his defensive prowess makes him an underrated rookie. For example, despite Young’s incredible rookie campaign, he only has two more games (seven) with game scores of more than 10 than Sexton does (five). That’s the same as Jaren Jackson Jr., one more than Mohamed Bamba and three more than Marvin Bagley III. All of those players were drafted ahead of Sexton.

Point being, Sexton’s overall performance is flying under the radar compared to his rookie peers because he makes his mark on the defensive end.