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The Thunder have three first-round picks and tons of trade options heading into the NBA Draft. Could Collin Sexton be on their radar?
The Oklahoma City Thunder have featured in all sorts of trade rumors heading into the draft, with their three first-round picks providing the fodder for all sorts of hypotheticals. Now, reporting is linking them to the Cleveland Cavaliers and potential interest in Collin Sexton.
There haven’t been specific details reported on what the Thunder were offering but presumably, the deal would not include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or all three of those picks, unless the Thunder were somehow moving up to No. 3 to try and land Evan Mobley or Jalen Green. Given the Thunder’s relatively clean cap sheet, this could even be an opportunity for Cleveland to get off Kevin Love‘s salary as well.
How would Collin Sexton fit with the Oklahoma City Thunder?
Sexton enjoyed a breakout individual season last year, averaging 24.3 points, 4.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game with a career-best 57.3 true shooting percentage. However, there were reports of friction between Sexton and teammates during the season and the emergence of Darius Garland gives the Cavaliers another solid backcourt piece to build around.
Sexton is definitely a score-first offensive player and Gilgeous-Alexander has moved in that direction with the Thunder. However, there are plenty of reasons to think they could work as a complementary backcourt duo, sharing ball-handling and scoring responsibilities. Sexton just finished his third season and from the perspective of age and finances, this would definitely push the Thunder out of a rebuilding mode and towards competing for a playoff spot. But with the picks and flexibility to continue adding complementary pieces and other high-upside youngsters like Darius Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski, maybe the Thunder feel ready to leap forward.