Going into the 2018-19 NBA campaign, rookie point guard Collin Sexton knew he was going to get a significant opportunity with the Cleveland Cavaliers due to the fact that the roster looked very different from a year ago.
Gone was LeBron James, and gone were the Cavaliers’ title hopes (and playoff hopes) with it.
As a result, Cleveland had nothing to lose by playing Sexton big minutes and letting him work through his growing pains, and now, the Cavs are reaping the benefits, as Sexton has been sensational of late.
Sexton’s father, Darnell, is very appreciative of the way the Cavaliers have handled his son this season, and he has thanked head coach Larry Drew for his patience, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Drew adds that he has seen significant growth in Sexton and the rest of the young guys on the team:
“You have to look at the organization, and for the organization, the big picture is the growth that we see in our young guys,” Drew said. “Now that we’ve kind of gone into the rebuild mode, we have to ask ourselves, are those guys the same as they were to start the season? And by no stretch of the imagination are they. These guys have really, really shown growth.”
On the season, Sexton is averaging 16 points, three rebounds and 2.9 assists over 31 minutes per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor, 41.3 percent from three-point range and 83.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Since the All-Star break, he is recording 20.4 points a night while making 47 percent of his shots and 45.8 percent of his triples.