Report: Cavs don’t want to go into luxury tax threshold to pay Collin Sexton

“To be brief, not a whole lot has changed between Sexton and the Cavaliers and their ongoing negotiations,” wrote Evan Dammarell of Right Down Euclid. “One source close to Sexton’s camp described it as a staring contest, with either side waiting for the other to blink. A different source shared with Right Down Euclid shared that Sexton had made it clear that he wants starting guard money from the onset of free agency while the same source said that Cleveland doesn’t want to go into the luxury tax threshold in order to pay him.

“With that said, the Cavaliers are more comfortable offering Sexton something less than $20 million annually with the deal going no lower than $15.5 million. Now both sides will continue to find some form of agreeable terms with one another or wait for someone to blink. Hopefully, things will be resolved before training camp and Cleveland can carve out a roster spot to have Sexton on the main roster by the start of the regular season. But, don’t be surprised if this continues to drag out through the remainder of summer as well.”

Cleveland currently has multiple pricey players on its roster. Big man Kevin Love is going to make about $29 million this season, and All-Star center Jarrett Allen is set to make $20 million. Lauri Markkanen, meanwhile, will make over $16 million, and Caris LeVert is set to make close to $19 million.

The luxury tax level for the upcoming season is set at a little over $150 million. Cleveland is fairly close to that already.

Sexton is coming off a season in which he only appeared in 11 games due to a torn meniscus. He averaged 16.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 24.4 percent from beyond the arc.

During the 2020-21 season, he recorded 24.3 points and 4.4 assists per game on 37.1 percent shooting from deep.

If he were to return, Sexton would not be the team’s main offensive option. Last season, Darius Garland broke out and established himself as the Cavs’ most important player. Furthermore, it seems like big man Evan Mobley is ready to take another step in his development.

As the offseason goes on, it will be interesting to see where Sexton ends up.