The Cleveland Cavaliers have what looks to be a solid roster for this coming season, and it has the potential to become a championship-caliber squad within the next five years.
But there is one significant thing they have left to do, and that is to find a resolution to the Collin Sexton situation.
He is a restricted free agent, which means the Cavs have the right to match any offer sheet he receives from another team.
But no one has offered him anything yet, other than the Cavs themselves.
Their offer has reportedly been for three years and $40 million, and Sexton’s camp doesn’t like it.
It is perfectly understandable, as he is probably a $15-20 million a year player, all things considered.
It is difficult to decipher exactly what is currently going on between both sides.
The Cavs Want To Sign Sexton, So What’s The Holdup?
Cleveland has made it known it wants to keep Sexton in town, but it has limited resources to work with, and that could be the simplest answer as to why the two sides haven’t gotten anything done.
The team doesn’t have enough cap space to give him the deal he wants and deserves, so it will have to think of another way to make something happen.
#Cavs RFA Collin Sexton seeking a 3-4 year deal worth up to $80M, his representatives say. Cleveland would have to find ways to create cap space to sign him to this kind of deal.
Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler seem to be the ones that would go if Cavs want to keep Sexton.
— Tim Larson (@TimLarsonSports) July 15, 2022
Together, Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler, both of whom have been disappointments so far, will make roughly $11.5 million this coming season.
Would shedding their salaries create enough cap space to get Sexton inked to a new deal?
The market has already been set by the Cavs. They have about $15M under the cap right now. They have already stated they won’t go over it. They are going to want a little wiggle room to sign someone if need be hence why they are offering him around $11-13M per year.
— CavsFan4Life (@sdubich) July 11, 2022
Could it be that the Cavs would be open to moving a couple of marginal or expendable players, but that other teams aren’t interested in making a trade with them due to the pending trade situations of Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell?
Right now, only a few teams in the NBA have any real cap space, including the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs.
This offseason, it has seemed as if few, if any teams are interested in taking on plenty of salary.
Sexton Deserves A Real Shot At Staying In The Land
Some may want to criticize Sexton as a shoot-first, self-centered player who doesn’t pass or defend much, but he is a good player who can help the Cavs.
The team needs more offensive punch, and Sexton’s career averages of 20.0 points a game on 45.8 percent shooting overall and 37.8 percent from 3-point range are proof he can do just that.
Because he is just 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, his best role moving forward may be as a sixth man backing up both Darius Garland and playing some backup shooting guard, especially when head coach J.B. Bickerstaff wants to go small.
Keeping him would give the Cavs a pretty formidable Big 3 on offense that is not only efficient and potent but also very young.
If they cannot come to terms with Sexton, either on a new contract or a sign-and-trade with another team, there is another option for both sides.
He could simply accept the qualifying offer the team has already given him, which is worth about $7.2 million this coming season, and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
Cleveland has Sexton’s Bird rights, which means they could go over the salary cap next summer (or this one) to re-sign him, if they’re willing to go over the cap (big if).
Betting on oneself like that always has inherent risks, but for a young player like Sexton, even one coming off a knee injury, it may be a worthwhile risk to take if he really wants to secure a big bag.
Leave a Reply