Re: Game 68: Dallas Mavericks (39-28) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (21-46) - 7.30PM
Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 5:13 pm
jbk1234 wrote:Let me be clear, the only time it's smart for a team to extend a young player on a rookie contract is if 1) it's a team friendly deal; or 2) the guy is a no brainer max player and you don't want him anywhere near the RFA market.Stillwater wrote:jbk1234 wrote:
I've seen enough to know that handing Sexton a big contract is not good risk management. I'd straight up tell him he hasn't shown enough on the defensive end of the floor to justify that type of commitment, but that if he's able to change that next season, we're willing to revisit the following summer. The Cavs are free to tell him whatever they like. Just don't make a mistake you won't be able to unwind for years.
I get the concerns of overpaying someone and having it hold the org hostage like KLove is. However Sexton is not a injury liability and despite your claims about not doing enough defensively you give a pass to DG despite being a meh defender as well. You can argue until blue in the cheeks about it and DG being better but neither one is a + defender and never will be so if that is important in the final determination of contract valuations so be it, but offensive only players are always paid more than 2 way role players CLE is a small market that has to overpay etc. It is the sad realty and if anything I would hope that Sexton would prefer to be a part of this org enough to take a discount , but as is the odds are better he and the org are growing farther apart if they continue to put garbage around him and he continues to get **** from a delusional fan base that expects him to pass like a 1 guard playing next to a guard who cant do anything but pass and has the keys etc.
This applies to Garland as well as Sexton. You can always match an offer later or even offer the player a max deal on day one of F.A.like the Cavs did with Kyrie. What you can't do is get out a time machine and unextend a player after a disappointing fourth year as the Wolves found out with Wiggins and the Kings found out Buddy.
Just don't do it and don't let an agent convince you that hurt feelings are a good reason to make that type of commitment because they're not.
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Hield and Wiggins are bad comparisons and you could tell an extension was a bad idea for very obvious reasons. Neither were good creators, Hield was older in his rookie season than Sexton will be NEXT year, and Wiggins can't shoot. There are ceiling limits there that aren't as obvious for Sexton, although there is one on the defensive side of the ball.
I could use Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell as closer references for Sexton than Hield or Wiggins, guys who could score but had questions about how much value they were adding. Booker was a high scorer on a bad team, just like Sexton. Mitchell was much better offensively than defensively, but luckily landed on an already decent team that needed the scoring because they have other high-level talent in Gobert and Conley and role players in Ingles whose strengths aren't scoring. Is Sexton as good as Booker and Mitchell were at his age? Probably not, both offensively and defensively. But this is who his agent is going to try to compare him to.
Perhaps the closest comparison, though, is Zach LaVine. Talented scorer, but behind Sexton after three years. Has always struggled on the defensive end. Traded with other assets for an All-Star who empowered himself out of his situation. Has consistently developed on the offensive end, hit RFA and got a $20m/year offer from SAC that the CHI matched. Developed into an All-Star. Still not sure how good a team with him on it can be!
Point being, he's right at the level where you build around him or trade him, but he's earning $23-25m/year easily and it's not a big leap to the max in future projection. I know you don't think he's worth that, and if the Cavs agree they should trade him while the buyer still gets 1-2 cheap years (or use him as super-sweetener to offload Love's deal).