Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers could explore trading guard Collin Sexton this offseason if they prefer avoiding signing him to a long-term extension.

Two executives floated the idea of moving on from Sexton when speaking to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

On the surface, trading 22-year-old Sexton seems like an odd choice. He led the Cavs in scoring at 24.3 points per game this season and is shooting a solid 38.5 percent from three for his career. As his game develops, he could be a nightly 25-point scorer who tops 40 percent from distance—the type of player teams covet in the modern NBA.

However, his tenure in Cleveland has not been all roses. Reports of frustration with Sexton's ball-dominant style have been consistent throughout his career, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported some opponents have even mocked Cavs players by saying, "You know he's not going to pass you the ball."

On a good team, Sexton's best role is probably as a sixth man. The Cavs are not a good team and have not been since his arrival in 2018.

The team also has some hefty financial decisions coming soon.

Jarrett Allen, a restricted free agent, is due a new contract this offseason, and Sexton is extension-eligible. With Kevin Love already on the books at around $30 million per year for two more seasons, the Cavs could be cap-strapped with a core that won 22 games in 2020-21—and that's before any Darius Garland extension kicks in.

Hitting big in the draft lottery would change Cleveland's fortunes, but three of the four top players in this class are guards. The other is a center. If the Cavs wind up with a top-four pick, they'll likely be in a situation where trading Sexton and getting what they can in return is a prudent choice.

Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman said Saturday that the Cavs want veteran big man Kevin Love on the team next season and beyond.

According to the Associated Press (h/t NBC Sports), Altman said: "We want him to be here. We signed him to an extension for that reason, to be here when we want to make that next step. And so we're going to hopefully rely on him heavily next year after a significant summer."

Cleveland signed Love to a four-year, $120 million extension in 2019, meaning he will be under contract through the 2022-23 season.

While the Cavaliers are a rebuilding team primarily focused on young players, Love could be a valuable piece moving forward since he is one of the only remaining holdovers from Cleveland's NBA championship win in 2016.

The 2020-21 season was a rough one for the Cavs, as they went just 22-50 and still don't appear particularly close to contending for a playoff spot.

There were plenty of lowlights throughout the campaign, but none stand out more than an incident during a game against the Toronto Raptors in April.

Out of frustration with the officiating, Love slapped the ball into play on an inbound, which allowed the Raptors to gain possession and make a three-pointer:

It was a bad look for a player who is still on the team specifically for his championship experience and leadership as a veteran.

Love later apologized for the incident, and Altman said he was "internally reprimanded" for the unprofessional play.

Altman suggested Saturday that the play was merely a lapse in judgment and not indicative of who Love really is as a person and player:

"What people don’t see is his vulnerability with the players and his teammates. I don't think people see his generosity. If he was an all-out bad guy and those plays that you talk about represented him, his teammates wouldn’t love him, his teammates wouldn't want to be around him."

Altman also noted that young big man Jarrett Allen has told him how much he enjoys being around Love, which is significant given Allen's status as a core piece moving forward.

The Cavs boast a lot of young talent in Allen, Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro and others, and they have a chance to be a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference in the coming years if those players continue to develop.

Even if they do, established veterans like Love are needed on the squad in order to guide them, and Altman clearly believes the 32-year-old five-time All-Star has the makeup needed to thrive in that role.

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton has enjoyed a steady rise toward stardom since the Cavs selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

The 22-year-old University of Alabama product has averaged 24.4 points, which ranks 18th in the NBA, along with 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals across 58 appearances during the 2020-21 season.

Sexton sat down with B/R and Microsoft Azure to go through some of the best plays so far across the first three years of his NBA career:

BR Video

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will miss at least one game because of a knee injury. 

Per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the 32-year-old has been ruled out for Friday's matchup with the Dallas Mavericks because of soreness in his knee. 

This will mark the first game Love has sat out since returning to the lineup on April 1. He scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting in Wednesday's 141-105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. 

A calf injury cost the five-time All-Star most of the first half of the season. He is averaging 12.8 points on 35.1 percent shooting from three-point range and 7.8 rebounds in 19 games since getting back in the lineup.

The Cavs aren't heading to the playoffs and have gotten used to playing without Love, so his absence will mark a return to the status quo. They are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. 

With Larry Nance Jr. still nursing a fractured thumb, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff will likely turn to Dean Wade as his primary power forward. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers apparently went the extra mile to accommodate point guard Collin Sexton during his first season in the NBA.

The Athletic's Jason Lloyd wrote Thursday that members of the Cavaliers staff "were ordered to continue playing him" and "continually praise him" when Sexton struggled on the court as a rookie.

Cleveland was forced to reset following LeBron James' departure in 2018. Sexton, the No. 8 pick in that year's NBA draft, was the closest thing the franchise had to a young foundational piece on the roster. The front office might have felt a level of pressure for the former Alabama star to thrive because he was the last chance to salvage anything from the Kyrie Irving trade after Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder had been quickly shipped out.

But there's a balance between shielding a rookie from undue criticism and holding a player accountable.

The way in which the Cavs handled Sexton may be coming back around for the team.

The 22-year-old is a dynamic scorer who's averaging 24.3 points and shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Still, it's unclear whether putting him in such a prominent role—he has a 29.2 percent usage rate, per Basketball Reference—is beneficial for Cleveland as a whole.

At 21-45, the Cavaliers are headed for their third straight losing season, and their .318 winning percentage isn't much higher than last year (.292).

According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, some members of the roster "still grow frustrated by the way Sexton dominates the ball," and opposing players have even dished out trash talk to that effect.

Sexton addressed the general criticism of his game on Monday.

"They say I can’t be a point guard," he told reporters. "Now these next stretch of games I’m going to go out there and show them I can do both—run the team and score the ball as well, and be efficient with it. I pretty much just take the criticism and run with it, and just have them look crazy down the stretch."

In the Cavs' last two losses since those comments, he had 11 assists and six turnovers while scoring 44 points.

Sexton can become a restricted free agent in 2022, and he's eligible for an extension this summer.

Because the Cavs aren't a marquee free-agent destination, holding on to homegrown stars is imperative. At the same time, they can't give Sexton a blank check for the reasons outlined above. Darius Garland, who's putting up 17.7 points and 6.2 assists per game, is emerging as a better option at the point as well.

Cleveland is quickly reaching a point where it needs to determine Sexton's fit within the organization.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly not broached the subject of a buyout with forward Kevin Love.

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reported the Cavs are not currently considering a buyout for Love, who is owed $60.2 million over the next two seasons.

Love's future with the Cavs has long been a source of speculation, dating back almost to the moment he signed his four-year, $120.4 million extension with the team. With the 32-year-old Love not meshing with the rebuilding young Cleveland roster, it was seen as only a matter of time before a trade happened.

However, Love has been consistently injured over the last three seasons while under-performing his contract when on the floor. He is averaging just 11.3 points and a career-low 7.0 rebounds per game this season while shooting 39.4 percent from the field. 

A five-time All-Star, Love has also struggled to maintain his composure at times. The Cavs fined Love last season following an outburst directed at general manager Koby Altmann, and he issued an apology last week after slapping a ball inbounds and turning it over against the Toronto Raptors. 

"The reality of it is I f--ked up. Everybody knows that," Love told reporters. "I love this team first and foremost. I know I f--ked up, and I apologized for that. I don't go out there intending to upset anybody, to embarrass myself to embarrass the organization, because I feel like I'm a part of something bigger than myself here."

The best comparison to Love's situation in Cleveland may be Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons. Griffin gave up $13.3 million in March to secure a buyout from Detroit and sign with the Brooklyn Nets.

The major difference is that Love has spent seven seasons and won a championship in Cleveland, whereas Griffin was only a Piston for two full seasons. 

Collin Sexton has turned himself into a quality scorer in his third season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but teammates are reportedly not always happy with the guard.

"Various Cavs players still grow frustrated by the way Sexton dominates the ball, and opponents taunt them by saying during games, 'you know he’s not going to pass you the ball,'" Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported.

Sexton leads the team with 24.4 points per game this season, although he averages just 4.1 assists per game despite having plenty of time with the ball in his hands.

The guard has a 29.2 usage rate, 23rd highest in the NBA, but only five of the players above him have a worse assist percentage (21.0), per Basketball Reference. 

Despite his faults, the 22-year-old is clearly the focal point of the Cavaliers rebuild.

At 21-43, Cleveland is looking at a third straight season without a playoff appearance since the departure of LeBron James, but the team has quality young pieces in Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro.

Sexton, the No. 8 pick of the 2018 NBA draft, is the best offensive weapon and continues to improve his efficiency with a career-high 52.9 effective field-goal percentage this season. The next step for him, clearly, is to improve his passing and vision.

The guard is eligible for an extension this offseason, although Vardon noted the team can wait another year to see if his game continues to mature.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are signing forward Anderson Varejao to a contract, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal reported the Cavaliers are able to sign Varejao to a 10-day contract after being a granted a hardship exemption. Per Ridenour, Larry Nance Jr. (thumb) and Matthew Dellavedova (neck) will miss the remainder of the season to comply with the exemption.

A member of the Cavs from 2004-2016, Varejao, 38, has not played in the NBA since the end of the 2016-17 season, returning to his native Brazil to join Flamengo in the country's top basketball league. He last averaged 1.3 points, 1.9 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per game with the Golden State Warriors before exiting the NBA.

At 21-41, and 17 games back of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Central Division, there's not a whole lot for the Cavs to play for at this point besides pride or better draft lottery odds.

The former could use a little bit of work after Cleveland's Kevin Love caused a mini-controversy against the Toronto Raptors on Monday by lazily tapping an inbounds pass straight to his opponents out of frustration. Love would go on to apologize for the move.

Cleveland is also still in need of big men with Lamar Stevens and Isaiah Hartenstein out of the lineup.

Following Friday's matchup with the Washington Wizards, the Cavs have nine games left in the season and can significantly impact the playoff picture with contests against the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.

How much Varejao will be used during the final stretch remains to be seen. Either way, a familiar face is returning to Cleveland once again.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Kevin Love addressed the media Wednesday for the first time since he let his frustration get the better of him during Monday's loss to the Toronto Raptors. 

"I love Cleveland," Love told reporters. "I'll f--kin' rock with Cleveland until the day I die."

The five-time All-Star began his press conference by saying it would "be a therapy session." He went on to say that he didn't intend to be disrespectful to his teammates or the game.

"In that moment I was frustrated about a lot of things: Me not being myself, letting the fans down, dealing with injuries, officials, players out. ... It was frustrating and that's how it came out in the moment," Love said.

He also vowed to be better for his Cavs teammates: "I love my role in helping the young core. This had nothing to do with the coaches or players. ... I love those guys and I love Cleveland."

The incident occurred late in the third quarter after Love voiced his displeasure with officials due to a non-call with the Cavs trailing 76-70. He angrily tapped the ball into play on an inbounds pass. Stanley Johnson picked up the ball and passed it to Malachi Flynn for a three that extended Toronto's lead to nine points. 

Cleveland lost the game 112-96 and has dropped 13 of its last 17 games overall. The Cavs have already clinched their third straight losing season and are currently 13th in the Eastern Conference standings. 

Love finished Monday's loss with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes. He's averaging 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds in 18 starts this season. 

Cleveland Cavaliers veteran forward Kevin Love explained Wednesday why he inbounded a pass to the Toronto Raptors during Monday's 112-96 loss. 

According to Mark Medina of USA Today, Love said: "The intent there wasn't malicious. It wasn't against the team."

Love continued:

"Not to say too much that could get me fined, but it was the officiating. When I snagged that ball, I didn't realize it wasn't even inbounds. I was a little thrown off. I was going to go grab it and throw back into passing the ball to [Darius Garland] and move on. I get the optics. That's something I have to take on the chin and understand that was a very bad look."

A frustrated Love slapped the ball into play after an official tossed it to him, allowing the Raptors to possess the ball and make a three:

Toronto extended its lead from six to nine late in the third quarter thanks to the gaffe and went on to win the game by 16.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that Love apologized to his teammates and coaches Monday and that the Cavs decided to handle the matter internally.

Love confirmed as much and said of his teammates: "They all understand it was a quick moment."

Along with reserve guard Matthew Dellavedova, Love is the only player remaining from the Cavs' NBA championship win in 2016. Because of that, he is expected to be a veteran leader and set an example for the younger players.

The 32-year-old Love is in his seventh season with the Cavs and 13th NBA season overall. He has been among the best bigs in the league since entering with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2008.

Love owns career averages of 18.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 three-pointers made per game, in addition to being a five-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA second-team selection.

He has been limited to 18 games this season due to injury, but Love has been a solid role player when healthy, averaging 11.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 three-pointers made.

The 2020-21 season has been a difficult one for the Cavs, who currently sit 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 21-40 record, leaving them six games out of a spot in the postseason play-in tournament.

While wins have been hard to come by, the Cavaliers have seen Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and trade acquisition Jarrett Allen take big steps forward as individuals, meaning the future may be bright for the young and talented team.