Instant Reaction: Cavs on The Lowe Post (or, Sexton Part Infinity)

Now that the calendar has turned to August, it officially begins the nadir of the NBA life cycle. Summer League is over, and free agency has ground down to a halt. Luckily for Cavs fans, Zach Lowe of “The Lowe Post” performed a deep dive on the Cavs with Chris Fedor of cleveland.com. Here’s what should catch Cavs’ fans attention…

1. Will he or won’t he?

Clearly the biggest question surrounding the Cavs at the present is a resolution to the Collin Sexton restricted free agency odyssey. To date, no team has made a satisfactory offer to Sexton’s team, including the Cavs themselves. Fedor confirmed on the podcast that all indications are that Sexton is willing to play under the qualifying offer to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason. He’d rather do that than take the security of $40 million dollars of backup player NBA money. It’s a risky move on Sexton’s part, and the past shows (see: Nerlens Noel) that making that kind of move leaves money on the table. I’m 100% in agreement with Lowe that the smart move for Sexton would be to seek a 2+1 year deal with a player option for the third year. However, Sexton’s team is willing to bet big at this point.

I’ve argued and will continue to argue that the Cavs would welcome Sexton playing on the qualifying offer, for a variety of reasons. The biggest thing is that it maximizes the Cavs’ cap space flexibility going into next offseason. With a couple of marginal moves, the Cavs can theoretically have over $30 million to spend below the salary cap next offseason, not an insignificant amount. Fedor opined that the Cavs wouldn’t say no to welcoming one LeBron James into that space without having to give up a thing.

Another reason why the Cavs would welcome a QO deal with Sexton is that it frees up Coach J.B. Bickerstaff to create some competition at the guard spots. Gone are the days of “player development” (aka tanking) minutes to young, struggling players. What the Cavs discovered last season was a lot of success particularly when Darius Garland played alongside Ricky Rubio, whose game is all about passing and defense. Rubio’s game is the polar opposite of Young Bull, who looks to score and do little else. As bad as Caris LeVert’s individual stats were with the Cavs last season, the DG/LeVert backcourt still easily outplayed Sexland:

As the data shows, DG and LeVert are a championship caliber offense that needs a lot of improvement on defense. However keep in mind that many of the DG/LeVert minutes came without Jarrett Allen, who was injured. It’s not crazy for some in the organization to be intrigued about what DG/LeVert pairing can be. Also apparent is how Sexland continued to be a losing proposition. Below are the numbers over their entire tenure:

If Sexton takes the backup money offer or qualifying offer, hopefully it leads to the merciful ending of Sexland basketball. And it’s interesting that there’s no one among Cavs’ fandom online, except yours truly, who wants to ask the important questions, such as “what if Collin Sexton is amazing sixth man? What if sixth man is the role Sexton was born to play?” Among all the screeching about Sexton its always so extreme… “oh he sucks and will never contribute to winning” or “Sexton is better Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell.” Consider yours truly “The Enlightened Collin Sexton Centrist.” I believe there’s a pathway to winning basketball for Young Bull, and it will look a lot like Jordan Poole or Tyler Herro. Both were major contributors to winning for their respective teams and both were placed in the role of sixth man off the bench. So, consider this henceforth the Collin Sexton for Sixth Man of the Year Agenda, coming to an arena near you!

2. Rest in Paradise Bill Russell

A message for us all. RIP. pic.twitter.com/YsyYcyd8P2

— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) July 31, 2022

3. Two Cleveland legends chopping it up

Appreciate the shoutout @KingJames too bad we weren’t able play together…we would have killed it!

— Mark Price (@Mark25Price) July 24, 2022

4. Sound off below

So, Commentariat… how do you think the Sexton saga ends? Do you think he signs an extension or qualifying offer? Do you think he gets traded? Sound off below and GO CAVS!