Collin Sexton had Kevin Durant on an island, sizing him up. After dancing with the ball for seven dribbles inside the arc, Sexton hoisted a contested elbow fallaway that missed everything.
"Too close in, [Durant is] able to use his length to pretty much know when I'm going to shoot it," Sexton said after watching that March 2019 clip. "Now, I'm playing into his hands basically."
Nearly two years later, Sexton again had Durant isolated at the top of the key. This time, the Cleveland Cavaliers were up five in double overtime thanks to a flurry of Sexton buckets down the stretch. Sexton tested Durant with the drive, retreated back beyond the 3-point line and lined up a hesitation pull-up triple with Durant on his heels.
"I see he's back behind the 3-point line," Sexton said. "I get my feet set and just let it go."
The shot fell, and Sexton finished the win with 42 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 38 minutes. While the Cavs have hit a snag since sweeping the Nets in Brooklyn to move to 6-4, Sexton is playing the best basketball of his career. In his third season, the Cavs guard has evolved into one of the most dynamic young scorers in the league.
Sexton has always been capable of big scoring nights, but how exactly has the No. 8 overall pick in 2018 slowed down his offensive attack, upped his efficiency and turned himself into a positive for the Cavs on both ends?
Over a virtual film session, Sexton and I broke down the specifics of the progression that helped him level up in the NBA.
Makings of an elite isolation scorer
Of the 42 players to have used at least 80 isolation possessions this season, according to Second Spectrum Data, Sexton ranks 11th in points per chance. Last season? Sexton ranked 52nd out of 64 high-volume isolation players.
"If I'm making the 3s consistently, then they have to play me tight," Sexton said. "I know I can get to the basket."
It's a simple formula for Sexton, who has developed one of the best slow-to-fast attacks in the NBA. Force defenders to play him at or above the 3-point line, then use his quick bursts of speed to get into the teeth of the defense and make plays. His dribble moves aren't fancy, but whether he's rejecting a screen with an explosive crossover or simply playing off a hesitation, he does everything with force and speed.
Sexton is now posting an effective field goal percentage (eFG) of 62.7% on 3.2 above-the-break 3s per game, up from 54.1% last season, which is paving the way for his improved isolation attack. Of his made pull-up jumpers this season, over 30% have been 3s, including side-step triples against elite defenders such as Anthony Davis. He's still not a high-volume 3-point shooter like so many of the top guards in the league, but given the question marks about his long ball coming out of college, he's ahead of schedule.
"Everybody saying that I wouldn't be able to shoot the 3 ball at the next level, that's something that's always been in the back of my mind," Sexton said. "I want to pretty much just prove them wrong. I'm someone that thrives off of that."
Then there's his finishing. Sexton completed his rookie season with an eFG of 39.3% in the key on 3.2 attempts per game. This season, Sexton boosted that clip by 10%, and he ranks second overall in shots attempted in the key per 100 possessions, according to Second Spectrum. He's getting all the way to the paint regularly, converting with far more nuance than we've seen in the past.
FILAYYY!@CollinSexton02 | #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/GsjoF8MXjT
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 21, 2021
Now, Sexton is more deceptive at the rim, regularly exploding off his right leg, fending defenders off with his body and using his right hand to get the ball up on the glass quickly before the rotating big can react. Coaches praise the 6-foot-1 Sexton's ability to finish through contact for his size, and his free throw rate has improved every season, as he now ranks in the 84th percentile in shooting fouls drawn, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Game slowing down in pick-and-roll
So eager to unleash his quickness and get downhill in the past, Sexton is far more patient in pick-and-roll, both as a scorer and a playmaker, which he partially attributes to the guidance of Chris Paul. Sexton, who shares the same agency as Paul, played for CP3's AAU team briefly during a tournament in Vegas and the two have built a relationship since.
"He told me pretty much to relax and survey the court every time I'm coming off a pick-and-roll," Sexton said. "For me to talk to him any time, I can reach out to him right now and he'd hit me back, it's been amazing to have someone that I can look up to and someone that I can lean on to watch film or just to hear a word of advice."
Sexton's relentless film study is starting to pay dividends. While he still possesses a score-first mentality, Sexton is playing with far better pace when he comes off screens, no longer trying to explode to the rim at the first sight of daylight.
Because of his improved pull-up 3 ball, teams are darting under Sexton screens far less this season, opening up the rest of the floor to score and distribute. When he was a rookie, opponents went under screens against him 349 times, the second most in the NBA. That's down to a No. 27 ranking this season. (Sexton is also learning how to have more of an impact when the ball isn't in his hands, whether that's sprinting the floor in transition, spotting up, cutting or keeping the ball moving.)
Sexton has developed his patience in the pocket, which you'll see from elite guards like Paul. He has improved his ability to put defenders in jail -- keeping them on his back -- before dropping in his patented teardrop or hitting the roll man in stride. Sexton leads the NBA in floaters attempted, with an eFG just under 47%.
"I was getting hit hard," Sexton said of his rookie season. "A lot of bad falls so I had to realize like, all right, let's try to stay off the floor a little bit and use something that's going to allow me to be in the league for a long time."
Sexton takes more shots between 5 and 15 feet than any other player in the NBA, according to Cleaning The Glass, yet he has been able to maintain efficiency.
"[Sexton] can make the shots that people want you to take -- floaters and pull-ups," one assistant coach said. "Not over 50%, but well enough to hurt you on a good night."
The next step for Sexton is continuing to build on the glimpses of progress he has shown as a facilitator. While Darius Garland handles a large bulk of the playmaking duties, Sexton is posting a career-best 1.73 assist-to-turnover ratio.
"I always thought he was a competitor who wasn't scared of being physical but couldn't really read situations," another assistant coach said. "Now he has a nice pace to his game, has a great floater, finishes well with contact."
Sexton watches film with the same level of intensity he uses to attack the rim.
"Aw man, run it back, run it back," he said, analyzing a turnover from his rookie season. With more ball handlers around him and an infusion of finishers at his disposal in Jarrett Allen and Isaac Okoro, Sexton is making a concerted effort to get off the ball more quickly. While he still misses occasional reads in live action, Sexton can explain every pick-and-roll read on film.
Already adept at hitting the roll man, Sexton is still evolving his next-level reads, such as hitting the shooter lifting up or finding the deep weakside corner. He's not immune to occasional tunnel-vision plays that can hang open teammates out to dry. But Sexton also has occasionally sprayed one-handed passes out to shooters, which wasn't in his arsenal as a rookie.
Over the past two-and-a-half seasons, Sexton has played at least one regular-season game with 46 different teammates. This season, a sense of familiarity is developing. While his best playmaking is likely ahead of him -- around 6 assists per game is a good target -- Sexton is settling in, and his dynamic scoring ability should continue to open up more opportunities to facilitate.
Defensive glimpses
A big reason I preferred Sexton to Trae Young during the 2018 pre-draft process was his defensive intensity. While never an overwhelming off-ball defensive playmaker, Sexton was a fiery competitor who lived to pressure the ball, blow up screens and battle bigs after switches. With his strong frame and 6-7 wingspan, Sexton had the potential to add value on both ends of the floor.
As is the case for most rookie guards, that didn't translate to the NBA game right away. Sexton regularly finished toward the bottom of the NBA in advanced defensive metrics for guards (partially a product of the group around him). His off-ball defense still has a lot of room for improvement, but the Cavs are now significantly better defensively with Sexton on the floor as opposed to off.
"He is a fierce competitor," said one NBA assistant coach.
Sexton was thrust into the fire as a rookie without the most refined skill set. As a 19-year-old, he was one of the go-to scorers on a team outside of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, learning the nuances of being an NBA lead guard on the fly. Now that he has 150-plus games of experience and is part of a young core taking shape in Cleveland, it's easier to see what Sexton's career trajectory could look like.
As Sexton continues to expand his off-the-dribble 3, progress as an advanced playmaker and hone in on maximizing his defensive potential, he has a case to become one of the better guards in the Eastern Conference in time.
"Just be an All-Star one day and just continue to get better each and every year," Sexton said of his goals. "Don't stay stagnant. Go into each and every summer and use it for what it's worth."