NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Collin Sexton, Nikola Jokic, Magic's Draft Plans

The 2021-22 NBA season has nearly reached its pinnacle. The Golden State Warriors finished off their series against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, putting the Warriors in the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, meanwhile, will face off on Sunday in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

By Monday morning, the championship matchup will be set.

While much of the basketball world has its eyes on the looming title clash, teams are busy making plans for the 2022-23 season. The Los Angeles Lakers, for example, finally settled on their next head coach, hiring Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham.

Once the Finals and the coaching cycle are complete, free agency, the trade market and the draft will be at the forefront for all 30 franchises. The offseason proper is quickly approaching, and there's no shortage of buzz to go around.

Let's dive into some of the latest.

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't get beyond the play-in tournament, but they have an intriguing young roster that could make postseason noise in the future. The Cavs, reportedly, are hoping to keep one of their young pieces in place this offseason.

Point guard Collin Sexton, the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft, will be a restricted free agent this summer. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Cavaliers are hoping to retain him but will have to pay heavily to do so long-term.

"The Cavaliers want to retain Collin Sexton," Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast. "He's going to demand starting guard money, I'm told."

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com agreed on Sexton's price point but noted that Cleveland may not be comfortable paying the 23-year-old's asking price.

"My sources tell me at the end of the Sexton negotiations, the two sides were kicking around Bogdan Bogdanovic money, so around $18 million annually," Fedor told Scotto. "I get the sense that the Cavs are more comfortable in the range of $15-18 million (annually). I think Collin is looking more in the range of $18-22 million (annually)."

If Sexton and the Cavs can't come to an agreement, a sign-and-trade could be the result. One executive told Scotto that Cleveland could use Sexton as trade bait.

"I think Cleveland will extend a qualifying offer to Sexton and look to match an offer. I don't see him receiving an offer, but I think Cleveland will use Sexton as a trade asset," the executive told Scotto.

If the Cavaliers can get a reasonable return for Sexton, a trade would make sense. He was solid this past season—averaging 16 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists—but he may not be worth his asking price to a Cleveland team with other young players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, who will eventually need to be paid too.

While the Cavaliers may eventually choose to move on from Sexton, it sounds like Nikola Jokic will be a member of the Denver Nuggets for the foreseeable future. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Sam Amick, The Joker is waiting for the chance to re-up.

Nothing has changed in the wake of Tim Connelly departing Denver to become President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

From Charania and Amick:

"After Jokic publicly stated his desire to sign the extension late last month, sources say the 27-year-old has reiterated his long-term commitment to the franchise this week and made clear his belief in the organization's future in the wake of Connelly’s exit. Multiple sources tell The Athletic that when the Nuggets offer Jokic the five-year, $260 million supermax deal in July, the All-NBA center plans to sign the contract."

This is great news for the Nuggets and their fans, as Jokic is coming off of back-to-back MVP campaigns and remains one of the league's top stars. The 27-year-old averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists this past season while leading Denver to a 48-34 record.

Keeping Jokic will give the Nuggets a centerpiece to continue building around and should help with free-agent recruiting. The question now is whether Denver can add the necessary pieces around him to make a deeper playoff push.

While the Nuggets have made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons, they've only moved past the conference semifinal round once in that span.

It's worth remembering that Jokic wasn't a top-10 pick in the NBA draft, or even a first-rounder. The Nuggets landed him in the second round at 41st overall. So, while there may not appear to be a franchise-altering player at the top of this year's draft class, one could be lurking within.

Will it be Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr.? The Orlando Magic must hope so, because Orlando seems to be planning on taking Smith first overall on June 23. According to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, most believe that the Magic will pick Smith over Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren and Duke's Paolo Banchero.

"While Magic executives have made it clear they will conduct a thorough process—even extending beyond the widely believed top three prospects in Smith, Holmgren and Paolo Banchero—most NBA teams firmly believe that's a formality and that Smith is all but assured to become the top pick," Givony wrote.

While this has long felt like a draft without a consensus top prospect, the early order may shake sort itself out in the coming weeks. Smith—who 16.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and two assists last season—appears to be Orlando's top choice.

According to Givony, there's an "overwhelming expectation" from NBA executives that Holmgren will then go to the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 2.

If the buzz is accurate, then the 2022 draft will begin getting interesting with the Houston Rockets at No. 3. Banchero could be the pick there, but as Rahat Huq of the Houston Chronicle recently pointed out, Houston could trade out of the spot for value.

"I think it's misguided to just summarily dismiss the possibility of [GM] Rafael Stone trading down from No. 3 to take someone like Purdue's Jaden Ivey and pick up an extra asset in the process," Huq wrote. "I don't think it's likely but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility."

While Smith and Holmgren may indeed be top-two locks at this point in the process, there's still plenty of draft drama ahead.