Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: G Nickeil Alexander-Walker, C Jaxson Hayes, NOP 2023 1st Round Pick (Top-7 Protected)
New Orleans Pelicans Receive: G Collin Sexton
The New Orleans Pelicans were a team rumored to be interested in Collin Sexton earlier in the offseason. While they added the likes of Devonte’ Graham and Tomas Satoransky to their backcourt, they still could have an interest in Sexton to make a real playoff push in the Western Conference this upcoming season.
Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are both proven All-Star talents that will only get better, but the rest of this Pelicans roster has been very lackluster over the years.
They finally have solid contributors and secondary scorers in Jonas Valanciunas, Devonte’ Graham, Josh Hart, and rookie Trey Murphy III. Adding Sexton could be the final piece of their playoff puzzle.
The Cleveland Cavaliers would likely want a little bit more value if they were to trade Collin Sexton, who has been their best player the last three seasons, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes, and a first-round pick is a handful of future value that could be of use to Cleveland.
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Alexander-Walker averaged career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, and shooting percentage last season, and it looks like he could be in store for a huge third season in the league given his versatility to play on or off-the-ball. Next to Darius Garland, he would not only give the Cavs another three-point shooting threat but another versatile guard who can really punish his opponents on the open floor.
Jaxson Hayes is dealing with a bit of off-the-court issues right now stemming from him being arrested in late July due to an altercation with Los Angeles police, but on the court, he is another young guy with a lot of potential to grow.
Hayes would absolutely be a solid contributor behind Jarrett Allen in the team’s depth chart and, once again, give the Cavaliers another 7-footer to play around with when construction lineups.
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Moving Collin Sexton would not be easy for Cleveland, which is why they may want another core player or draft pick from the New Orleans Pelicans, but overall, moving him to continue building their team for the future is not a bad idea.
The Cavaliers are not too close to being a real threat yet, which is why they would be smart to continue gathering future assets. The question that remains is if these assets the Pelicans can offer up are the right ones for Cleveland to build with?
