The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly a potential landing spot for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton.
“Per Hoops Wire sources, the [Miami] Heat, [New York] Knicks, [New Orleans] Pelicans, [Indiana] Pacers, [Oklahoma City] Thunder and Lakers are among the teams evaluating a trade for Sexton,” wrote Sam Amico.
“Some of the teams in that group would be willing to take back the contract of Cavs power forward Kevin Love to help make a Sexton trade work, sources said. Others might reach out to third parties to help facilitate a deal. All apparently remain in the exploratory stage and have yet to put together anything resembling a real offer.”
According to one NBA executive, Sexton has what it takes to serve as an “excellent” scoring punch off the bench for a winning team. Without a doubt, the Lakers have struggled to find a consistent scorer outside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in recent seasons.
“He would make an excellent sixth man or spark plug on a winning team, or maybe a starter in the right situation,” one team executive told Hoops Wire.
Sexton could be a great fit for the Lakers. The former first-round pick is coming off of 2020-21 campaign in which he averaged 24.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from deep.
Sexton is certainly a score-first guard, and he could increase his value by polishing his game in some other areas. However, he would be able to help the Lakers out regardless of whether he improves upon his weaknesses.
With Dennis Schroder expected to hit free agency, the Lakers are going to have a big void to fill at the guard position. Schroder averaged 15.4 points per game this past season on 43.7 percent shooting. That’s a fairly big hole to fill, and Sexton could be the perfect player to do so.
It is beginning to seem like a forgone conclusion that the Cavaliers will trade Sexton this offseason based on recent reports. Only time will tell if he ends up in L.A.
