The Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a hot start to the season but have unfortunately been bitten by the injury bug in recent weeks. They’ve played the last two games without their starting frontcourt as rookie sensation Evan Mobley is currently on the shelf with an elbow injury, while Jarrett Allen is out with a non-COVID illness.
In the backcourt, they’re down another starter as Collin Sexton suffered a torn meniscus earlier this month with an indefinite timetable initially given on his return. On Friday, the Cavaliers provided an unfortunate update to that timetable, as Sexton will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair the damage in his knee.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 20, 2021
Sexton was averaging 16.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game to start the season, and while he was scuffling as a three-point shooter out of the gates, his impact and ability to create a basket was very important for a Cavs team without a ton of on-ball creation. Without Sexton, the burden will continue to fall on Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio to handle the majority of the creation load, particularly while Mobley is out, who was their best connector in the frontcourt.
For Sexton, it’s a brutal injury as he not only is missing out on a season, which is devastating to a player at any point, but is doing so heading into his first free agency summer. Many wanted to see another year of Sexton, particularly on a more competitive team as this Cavs squad seems to be, to assess his value as a restricted free agent and now he misses out on the opportunity to impress and build a market for himself this summer.