Cleveland Cavaliers (Oct. 26, Nov. 1)
These are not LeBron James‘ Cleveland Cavaliers. These are Collin Sexton‘s Cleveland Cadavers.
To say Sexton stunk as a rookie is putting it mildly. Sexton’s rookie year smelled worse than a durian, a corpse flower, and a wino who hasn’t showered since George W. Bush was still president combined.
Since the stat came into being with the NBA’s starting to count individual turnovers in 1977-78, Sexton’s minus-2.1 VORP is tied for third-worst in history.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t even the worst VORP last season — that dishonor belongs to the Knicks’ Kevin Knox and his cover-your-eyes minus-2.2 — but only Michael Olowokandi (minus-2.6 in 1999-2000) had a worse value before last year.
An argument could be made that Sexton is due to make a leap, but De’Aaron Fox, who was about as bad as a rookie can get in the league, managed a minus-1.2 VORP before making his Year 2 leap.
What does this have to do with the Indiana Pacers?
Well, it underscores what a cupcake the 19-wins-in-2018-19 Cavs will be for two games. There is no reason whatsoever why the Pacers can’t win both of these games, at home and on the road.