Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Collin Sexton has been trending downward in regards to on-court performance since November
Collin Sexton has endured a rough rookie season. The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the worst teams in the league and Sexton is being tasked with leading a relatively uninspiring unit. Besides playing for a team with an awful record, Sexton experienced his worst month since turning pro.
In the month of January Collin Sexton only made 36.2 percent of his shots. In fact Sexton’s field goal percentage has dropped in consecutive months. From 45 percent in November to 40.2 percent in December and now 36.2 percent in January. This drop in efficiency is not a good trend for the Cavaliers rookie.
Coinciding with Sexton’s drop in field goal percentage, points scored per game have also dropped in three straight months. Sexton scored 16.1 points in November, 14.8 points in December and now 13.3 points in January. These numbers are hardly encouraging and quite a cause for concern.
A drop in minutes per game could hypothetically be to blame, (31.3 minutes in November, 30.7 in December, 29.5 in January), however just under two minutes less per game is hardly to blame for such a sharp drop in performance quality.
Collin Sexton may be a victim of circumstances in Cleveland
To put it bluntly the Cleveland Cavaliers are a bad team. The team has also dealt with injuries to key players several times this season. Kevin Love has been out since the fourth game of the season. Tristan Thompson has suffered two injuries which have kept him out for an extended period of time. With the team lacking veteran experience it is quite difficult for Sexton to not head into a negative direction.
It is not entirely out of the question to consider that if Love and Thompson have not missed as much time as they have that Sexton could be playing better. While the team has benefited from quality play from Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood and Alec Burks, they can only do so much from the guard position. Ante Zizic has played fairly well, but his contributions have come in spurts and has not really impacted Sexton in a positive manner.
Collin Sexton is an unfinished product and has a lot of time ahead of him as an NBA player. Sexton is also only 20 years old and will develop as his career progresses. Cleveland surrounding Sexton with more quality players will also help his development. Of course that is if they select the right players and not draft the wrong players.
Will Collin Sexton’s downward slide continue? Probably not. Although the downward trend is concerning. The best practice for the time being is patience and allowing the rookie to learn from his mistakes.
