Getty Colin Sexton driving on Kevin Durant.
It’s not even the NBA offseason yet but the Los Angeles Lakers are already finding themselves in a number of trade rumors. The season didn’t go as planned for the team so changes will be made. The team has defensive talent to spare so their sites should be set on adding another scoring threat.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had trouble figuring out a direction since LeBron James left for the second time. Collin Sexton has been one of the team’s few bright spots. The eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft averaged 24.3 points a game this season and has improved every year. However, The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd recently reported that the guard is available in a trade. According to Sam Amico of Hoops Wire, the Lakers are one of the teams interested in his services.
“Per Hoops Wire sources, the [Miami] Heat, [New York] Knicks, [New Orleans] Pelicans, [Indiana] Pacers, [Oklahoma City] Thunder and Lakers are among the teams evaluating a trade for Sexton,” Amico wrote.
“Some of the teams in that group would be willing to take back the contract of Cavs power forward Kevin Love to help make a Sexton trade work, sources said. Others might reach out to third parties to help facilitate a deal. All apparently remain in the exploratory stage and have yet to put together anything resembling a real offer.”
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Executive Thinks Sexton Could Come off Bench
Sexton is certainly an emerging talent but it’s a lot easier for players to put up good scoring numbers on a bad team. If he got traded to a team like the Lakers, he’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot less. One team executive sees Sexton as a possible sixth man.
“He would make an excellent sixth man or spark plug on a winning team, or maybe a starter in the right situation,” the team executive told Amico.
Sexton has started 197 of 207 games throughout his career so coming off the bench isn’t something he’s accustomed to. It’s fair to question if he would accept that type of role. At the same time, Sexton hasn’t done enough yet to dictate what he wants to do. It will be interesting to see how he’d react to getting traded to a team like the Lakers.
Would Sexton Fit With Lakers?
Sexton is an interesting name to keep an eye on for the Lakers. If they see him as a sixth man, it’s easy to see him having a Jordan Clarkson-type impact on the team. Clarkson scored 18.4 points a game this season and won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.
The Lakers didn’t have very good scoring production of their bench last season. Sexton would fix that problem. That said, he could also be a starter for the team if they see him as a point guard and Dennis Schroder goes elsewhere in free agency. He’s more of a scorer than a distributor so it would be smarter to play him at shooting guard behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
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