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Cavs' Collin Sexton on Restricted Free Agency: 'I Want to Be Here in Cleveland'
April 16, 2022
After missing out on the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers have some big roster decisions to make this offseason.
Collin Sexton, who is eligible for restricted free agency, is making things easy on Cavs management by leaving no doubt he wants to remain in Cleveland.
"I want to be here in Cleveland," Sexton told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. "I love the organization, love my teammates and whatever happens I know that Cleveland was really good to me. I know this is the place that helped me get to where I am today, and I know I want to continue to be a part of this winning culture. I feel like me just being able to be at the start of it helped us get to yesterday and where we are right now at the present. I love Cleveland. I want to be here."
It will be interesting to see how Cleveland approaches things with Sexton this summer. He only played in 11 games because of a torn meniscus suffered in a Nov. 7 game against the New York Knicks.
Sexton told Fedor there's no set timetable for him to participate in full basketball activities.
In the 10 full games he was able to play prior to the injury, Sexton averaged 16.8 points with a 44.8 field-goal percentage.
There have been questions about the fit between Sexton and Darius Garland in Cleveland for as long as they have been teammates.
Garland clearly established himself as the best player for the Cavs this season. The 22-year-old led the team in scoring average (21.7 points per game) and assists (8.6) and shot 38.3 percent from three-point range on 6.7 attempts per contest. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career.
The Cavaliers were one of the surprise teams in the NBA in 2021-22. Their 44-38 record was a 22-game improvement from last season. This marked the franchise's first winning season since 2017-18.
Cleveland missed out on the playoffs with losses to the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament.
After Sexton and the Cavs were unable to reach a long-term extension before the start of this season, Fedor reported in October that Sexton's camp was hoping for a deal in the $100 million range, though he was willing to take less money.
Sexton's qualifying offer is valued at $7.23 million, per Spotrac. The team already has $125.45 million in salary commitments for next season.
Cleveland selected Sexton with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He has averaged 20.0 points, 3.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 218 career games in four seasons.