On Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers made the massive decision to unload an abundance of future draft picks and players to acquire star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz.
The most important player the Cavs included in the deal was arguably young guard Collin Sexton.
In the early days of the post-LeBron James era rebuild, Sexton was one of the few bright spots on the Cavs roster. He blossomed into a dangerous offensive weapon and seemed to embody the hard-working spirit of the city of Cleveland from day one.
For that reason, the Mitchell acquisition is surely bittersweet for some Cavs fans, as Sexton’s tenure in Cleveland has now come to an end.
On Friday, Sexton posted a beautiful message of gratitude to Cavs fans everywhere. It didn’t take long for many of his former teammates, including Darius Garland and Kevin Love, to flood the comments section with love and support.
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Sexton played 218 games in his career with the Cavs. In those games, he averaged 20.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. At times, he played so well that he even garnered some All-Star consideration.
Now that he is on the Jazz, he will surely look to build upon his accomplishments and garner even more respect throughout the league.
That is not to say that there aren’t areas of his game that clearly could use improvement. He lacks elite court vision, which has sometimes led to him holding onto the ball for too long and failing to convert on offensive possessions.
Moreover, his relatively small size has proven to be something of a liability on the defensive end. With that in mind, he certainly has the intensity to be a positive defender, and he has shown a great willingness to improve that part of his game throughout his career.
Though Sexton’s time with the Cavs has come to an end, there is no doubt that fans will continue to root for him as he continues his NBA career.
As for the Cavs, they are now seen as a true contender in the Eastern Conference. Last season showed that their rebuild was going incredibly well. This upcoming season, the team will look to prove that the rebuild is finally complete.
