The truth about Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton

Collin Sexton has been both a blessing and a curse for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are still searching to find a suitable role for Collin Sexton. The Young Bull is leading the team in scoring, but has been the root of multiple problems for the rebuilding franchise.

Though his tunnel vision play style has angered some of the Cavaliers veteran players, there is no question that Sexton is one of the team’s best scorers. He is a lightning-quick athlete with a soft floater and solid finishing ability.

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Nonetheless, Sexton is frequently used as a scapegoat. Sexton has received criticism from his fans, Cleveland sportswriters and even his own teammates. How much of this criticism is fair? What is the truth behind Sexton’s controversial play style?

Let’s take it back to his rookie season. The Cavaliers selected Sexton with the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. This was only a few weeks before LeBron James announced his decision to leave the franchise after four straight trips to the NBA Finals.

With James gone, the franchise looked to Sexton to be their saving grace. Facing high expectations, Sexton had a bumpy rookie season. He finished with some of the league’s worst advanced metrics, but felt accomplished as a member of the All-Rookie second team.

In his first season, Sexton showed potential as a scorer. He broke the franchise rookie record for total 3-pointers and had an electric streak of eight consecutive games with at least 20 points towards the end of the season, part of a longer run during which he topped the 20-point mark 13 times (scoring 16, 18 twice and 19 in the other four games) in the season’s last 17 games.

Midway through his sophomore season, Sexton is again showing his skill as an offensive threat. He is leading the Cavaliers in scoring with 18.7 points per game and is shooting an efficient 45.3 percent from the floor.

However, for every good thing Sexton does, he brings a number of bad habits. Sexton has a tendency to force the issue on offense, often dribbling into the teeth of the defense. These situations usually end with him losing the ball or having a shot blocked.

The easy solution here would be for Sexton to slow down and pass the ball. Instead, Sexton has nearly as many turnovers (80) as assists (91) and had more shots blocked this season than any other player in the league.

Sexton’s scoring comes with a price. He may be one of the best pure bucket-getters from his draft class, but his reluctance to pass the ball has caused frustration for the team.

In December, Sexton had the worst stretch of his career as a shooter. He shot an atrocious 11.9 percent from the 3-point line and averaged more turnovers than assists. When he is playing like this, it’s nearly impossible to keep him on the floor and find success.

At 21 years of age, it’s possible that Sexton can become a reliable playmaker at some point in his career. However, he has shown no signs of improvement in this category and is averaging fewer assists per game than he did as a rookie.

Luckily, Sexton has bounced back strong to start the new year. Young Bull has been red hot in January, averaging 21.4 points across his last seven games on 40.0 percent shooting from the 3-point line.

His success may be a direct result of Darius Garland hitting his stride. Garland has been dishing out 5.5 assists per game during this stretch and is unlocking himself as a shooter.

The dynamic between Garland and Sexton is starting to become beneficial to the team. When Sexton is working off-ball with Garland as the primary ball-handler, the Cavaliers are a much better offensive squad.

Sexton’s role with the Cavaliers will likely change as they move forward with the rebuild. It seems doubtful that he will ever be a leader or the best player on a playoff team. Rather, Sexton will find more long-term success as a role player or sixth man.

That’s the truth about Collin Sexton. He isn’t on pace to be a superstar and his all-around game might never be fully polished. Still, he is a talented scorer and can be a positive for this team if he is put in the correct role and given proper expectations.