Collin Sexton being traded seems more and more likely this offseason?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a mess right now and in large part because of the contract they gave Kevin Love a few years back. For being “loyal” and helping the Cavs win a championship in 2016, Cleveland’s front-office rewarded Love a four-year, $120.4M contract, a deal in which Love immediately took his agent out to a 5-star steak dinner after signing.
With two years and $60.2M left on his contract, the Cavaliers are now stuck with Kevin Love and have a financial problem on their roster. This team is far from being anything special in the Eastern Conference and they have about $18M to play around with as of right now this offseason, but that will be gone quickly if they re-sign Jarrett Allen.
The Cavs acquired Allen in the James Harden to the Nets trade back in January and he has been a key contributor for them since. Cleveland wants to keep Allen at the center position long-term as of right now, which would mean that all of that cap space they have would be gone.
Collin Sexton is their best player and is up for a contract extension this offseason since he is entering the final year of his contract, but the Cavaliers will be flirting with the hard cap if they give both Jarrett Allen and Collin Sexton long-term deals this offseason.
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For a team that has not made the playoffs in years, getting close to the hard cap could be detrimental for them, especially since Cleveland is in no position to land a big name free agent anytime soon. LeBron James is the only guy who would leave his current situation to go play for the Cavaliers and this is extremely unlikely to happen ever again.
Making a choice between Allen and Sexton could very well be what the Cavaliers are faced with this offseason, which is why they could look to move not only Collin Sexton, but Kevin Love in the same trade package this offseason.
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Sources have told NBA Analysis Network that the Knicks, Lakers, Heat, Pelicans and Pacers are all interested in Collin Sexton, but the added baggage of Kevin Love could be a “deal-breaker” for most teams around the league. Jason Lloyd of The Athletic talked about the futures of both Sexton and Love with the Cavaliers and stated that Collin Sexton is “very available” in trade talks right now league-wide.
It should not come as a surprise this offseason to see Collin Sexton on the move and while he is the Cavaliers’ best player, they do own the third pick in this year’s draft. Getting future value for Sexton now with him entering the final year of his contract and replacing him with the 3rd pick in the draft could very well be in the future plans of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
