2019-20 Preseason Profile: Collin Sexton
Young Bull Looks to Build Off Prolific Rookie Campaign
by Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG)
9/24/19 | Cavs.com
Collin Sexton showed the NBA why he’s called the “Young Bull” last season. The kid is relentless.
And after suiting up for all 82 contests as a rookie – closing the campaign with 23-straight double-figure scoring appearances – the league now also knows that the Young Bull is relentlessly relentless.
Sexton became the first Cavaliers rookie since Andre Miller in 1999-2000 to start all 82 games. And while most NBA freshman hit the wall at some point during their first season – especially as a 19-year-old – Sexton ran through it, getting better as the campaign progressed. The former Alabama standout hit the afterburners just before the All-Star Break and never looked back.
Taken with the 8th overall pick, Sexton spent the first 10 games of the season learning behind George Hill. He got his first start against Oklahoma City on November 7, notched 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting and proceeded to net double-figures in each of his next 17 outings.
Sexton’s late charge (apparently) wasn’t enough to get him on the league’s All-Rookie First Team, but there wasn’t a first-year player last year who finished stronger than the Young Bull.
If John Beilein’s overtures are true, Sexton – now the grizzled vet at age 20 – will head into the upcoming campaign sharing the backcourt with this year’s top pick, point guard Darius Garland. They’ve been dubbed “Portland East” before ever playing a game together. And whether it plays out that way or not, it should be an electrifying pairing this season and beyond.
Unlike most rookies, Collin Sexton seemed to get stronger as the season progressed.
Photo: Nathaniel Butler/NBAE/Getty Images
LOOKING BACK -- For a minute last year, it looked like Sexton would indeed hit the dreaded Rookie Wall.
He notched at least 20 points in three of December’s first five games, but began running low on steam heading into the holidays and into January – failing to reach the 20-point mark at any point during that stretch. Over the final three games of the month and first game of February, a frustrated Sexton shot just 28 percent from the floor over that span.
But the Young Bull bounced back right around the All-Star Break – averaging 22.8 points per in the five games before the midseason classic – and basically riding that heater the rest of the way.
In March, he began posting serious numbers – tallying at least 23 points in a seven-game stretch, becoming the first rookie in team history to achieve that feat and becoming the first freshman since Tim Duncan in 1998 to do so.
When that run came to a close, he still notched 20 points in his next game against the Clippers – joining Ron Harper as the only Cavs rookie to net at least 20 points in eight-straight games as well tying Atlanta’s Trae Young for the longest run by any rookie this year.
Over that 13-game span dating back to March 8, Sexton averaged an even 24.0 points per – shooting .524 from the floor, .468 from long-range and .902 from the stripe.
Trae Young and last year’s Rookie of the Year, Luka Doncic, might’ve gotten most of the spotlight this year, but Sexton was right at the top of the 2019 class.
On the season, Sexton ranked 1st in free throw percentage (.839), 2nd in three-point field goal percentage (.402), minutes per game (31.8), 3rd in points per game (16.7), 4th in field goal percentage (.430) and 5th in assists per game (3.0).
No rookie last season posted more double-digit performances than Sexton this season – topping his class with 73 and tying LeBron James’ total back in 2003-04. (Ron Harper still holds the franchise mark at 80.) Sexton’s 1,371 total points this season only trail Harper and James and the 10th-most by any NBA rookie since 2009-10.
BY THE NUMBERS: 119 … three-pointers that Collin Sexton knocked down last season, a new Cavaliers rookie record – 46 more than the previous record-holder, Kyrie Irving, in 2011-12.
In doing so, Sexton also became just the third rookie in NBA history to average at least 16.0 points while shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the stripe – joining Larry Bird and Steph Curry.
LOOKING AHEAD -- Will the starting combination of Sexton and Garland be the Cavaliers’ future identity – as it is with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in Portland? Or will it be simply an experiment for Cleveland’s new coaching staff?
Sexton is a proven commodity heading into his sophomore season – a bona fide scorer who’s tough as nails. The addition of Brandon Knight at the point – allowing him to move off the ball at the midway point – was a boon to his rookie season. How will his game change alongside this year’s top pick?
The old NBA adage says that players make their biggest improvements over the offseason. Sexton’s been working hard in Independence all summer. Now it’s time to see what the Young Bull will add to his already impressive bag of tricks.