NBA Draft: Cavaliers Pick Collin Sexton, Wants To Reach Finals With LeBron

Alabama guard Collin Sexton is excited for the upcoming season and still hopes to be teammates with LeBron James after getting drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Sexton, who averaged 19.2 points and 3.6 assists as a freshman for Crimson Tide, was selected as the No. 8 pick by Cleveland and was one of the more promising players in the draft.

Multiple team sources close to ESPN claim they are fans of Sexton's "character and competitive nature" while Cavs owner Dan Gilbert himself was impressed with the 19-year-old after he worked out with the Cleveland side a day after the NBA Finals earlier this month.

"Low end, and this is no disrespect, he can be an Eric Bledsoe type, because he has that kind of speed and athleticism," Alabama assistant coach Yasir Rosemond said of Sexton recently. "His ceiling? I think his ceiling could be a Russell Westbrook."

"Early on, he’ll be a better defender than some people think. He’ll be a better passer than a lot of people think. He can really pass the ball. We put him in situations because we needed him to score. But he likes to pass. He’s a really determined scorer, and that was great for us. But it made people wonder, ‘can he play point guard?’ I’m saying he can. You look at the NBA. How many point guards up there can’t score?"

Meanwhile, Sexton, pleased to be a Cavalier, is excited to show people what he can do, and even made a pitch for James to stay in Cleveland when asked to do so.

"It just shows all my hard work paid off," Sexton said during the draft broadcast, as per ESPN. "I just grinded. I started at the bottom and came back up to the top. That's the biggest thing, just to show people what I can do. ... Man, LeBron, let's do it! Let's do it. I see you needed a few pieces — one or two pieces last season — and let's do it. Let's go back to the Finals. Let's do it!"

Whether James does stay in Cleveland remains to be seen. The 33-year-old has one year remaining in his current deal but has until June 29 to exercise his player option, which if not the case, will see him become an unrestricted free agent free to join any team of his choosing.

While he became a free agent in 2016 as well after helping the Cavaliers win their first-ever championship, the chances of him leaving this time are even greater, especially after his side were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals earlier this month.

There were initial reports that Cleveland were looking to trade their No. 8 pick for established veterans to entice James into staying while others claimed they were looking to trade it along with Kevin Love for San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard.

However, on Wednesday, it was reported the Cavs planned on making their draft pick with the intention of keeping the player they selected as they were interested in adding a young playmaker to their current core and Sexton fits the bill.

Interestingly though, ESPN claims the Cavs tried to trade for the No. 4 pick held by the Memphis Grizzlies but to no avail. The Grizzlies would go on to select Michigan State power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.