With the season of duos upon us. There is one pair that is being slept on like a tempurpedic. Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Some may point to the fact that they’re too young, and that’s the point. Collin is 20 and Darius is only 19. “The roof is the ceiling” for these two.
While Collin is 3-4 inches shorter than Klay he has the potential to stack up and even bring more to the floor than him. They don’t call him Young Bull for nothing, this boy is BUILT. Statistics show that Sexton was one of the worst defenders in the league last year but in CP3’s words(4:45), “He takes just as much pride in getting a stop as he does getting a bucket on you.”. Don’t forget when he charged up, went super saiyan, flexing on Josh Hart ON DEFENSE, and got the stop in crunch time, making Hart take the easy way out and pull up. Sexton excels in crunch time and he has hit big shots when his team needed him most (HUGE board to set himself up). Being on a team as tumultuous as the ‘18-’19 Cavs won’t bode well for anyone defensively except for opposing teams. Cavs struggled all season with injuries and went through just about every starting lineup in the book, one of the only rocks being Sexton(played all 82 games as a rook). Young Bull is a DOG and arguably the most physically gifted guard in the league. He won the 2017 Powerade Slam Dunk Jam Fest, but doesn’t flaunt on court, instead making the right play time and time again. Numerous players acknowledge that the fastest player in the league right now is either Fox or Sexton, being the league’s top young speed demons. Collin is a relentless scorer and knows how to use his bag to get a bucket. His biggest pre draft knock was his outside shot. Said critics have been duly noticed and silenced. He joined elite company with only Larry Legend and Chef Curry himself as the only rookies to average 16ppg on 40%3 and 80%FTs. A points per game average that must I add was largely inflated after he was snubbed from the rising stars game, he went on a stretch of 7 games in a row with 23 points or more on 56% shooting. During which the Cavs went 3-4, beating the two Eastern Conference Finals teams. This is consistent rookie scoring not seen since The Big Fundamental in 1998. Expect him to do more numbers after he was snubbed from 1st team all rookie. While proving himself a certified deadeye, scoring will only become easier for the Young Bull as he will slice open lanes like butter. His now biggest knock is his playmaking ability, which will continue to grow as he expands his bag, but will be aided by his counterpart.
Darius was the top ranked Point Guard coming out of High School for a reason. Due to injury his stock fell but don’t sleep. Many teams tried trading up to take him and was so tantalizing that the knicks almost passed on RJ to acquire their 5th point guard, he’s that good. The Cavs knew they couldn’t pass on him when he was draining 30 footers with ease in their workout. His biggest knock, durability. He only played 5 games in college before he injured his meniscus. But that’s a Curry-esque trait and the last time the Cavs took an injury prone point guard high (who only played 11 games in college), well, we all know what happened. Plus Collin has shown he can be the iron man in the combo much like Klay has done for the Warriors, he doesn’t have the length of Klay but he’ll make up for it with his speed and can create his own bucket on cue.
The Cavaliers new coach, John Beilein hand selected Garland to run alongside Collin in the backcourt. Highly sought after, Beilein is under contract for the next 5 years, a basketball genius out of UM heralded for developing talent. Players already seem to have taken a liking to him and both young guns expressed excitement about playing with each other and are confident they can make the combo work. They see themselves as a Dame-CJ type beat. Collin already excels at playing off-ball and Garland looks to give him opportunities to shine as a problem on the wing. With dual point guards flanking each other, teams are in for trouble guarding them. Collin’s size isn’t a valid argument to his demise as Patrick Beverly, a known dog, is 2 inches and 10 pounds smaller than Sexton. I need to reiterate the fact that Collin Sexton is a dog. He is the first one in and last one out the gym, a legendary work ethic and a genuine desire to be the best, along with his gifts, make him dangerous. Garland will perfectly compliment his game in the backcourt bringing vision and spacing to the table. Watch as the two flourish into one of the best duos in the league. Expect Collin to make the Rising stars game in his second year like Cedi did and expect his counterpart, Garland, to accompany him there, as well. Garland is a sleeper for the ROTY award. Cleveland is already lightyears ahead of where they were last post LeBron era.
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