Cavs Should Not Hesitate To Trade Collin Sexton For Detroit's No. 1 Pick

The Cleveland Cavaliers literally beat the odds and were able to land the No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft. However, rumors are circulating that the Cavs are eyeing a potential trade-up.

According to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, the Cavs are among many teams that have expressed interest in moving up to the No. 1 overall pick to presumably take Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham.

The question is, should the Cavs move up for the top prospect, and should they unload Collin Sexton to get that pick?

While this draft appears to have a clear five-best prospects that the Cavs would be lucky to have, the problem remains that there is not enough money to go around right now.

We can assume one way or another, the Cavs will get off the $60 million that Kevin Love is still owed. Whether by trade or buy-out, Love has probably played his last game for Cleveland. That leaves us with the extensions of Jarrett Allen and Sexton.

The sentiment around the league is that Allen will receive an extension from the Cavs around five years, $100 million. With that contract and the assumption that we will have to eat some of Love's remaining money, Would it be wise to offer Sexton max money?

Extend Sexton? Maybe not.

Sexton still has one year of control but is eligible for an extension off his rookie contract. Sexton will most likely command top-money, coming off his second-straight season averaging 20 PPG and on 47 percent shooting.

While Sexton has improved significantly from a poor rookie season, the Cavs have made no progress as a team in the post-LeBron James era. The Cavs are a combined 60-159 since they drafted Sexton in 2018.

While this is not necessarily Sexton's fault, he is not improving the team enough to justify throwing out max money. Both the Cavs' offensive and defensive ratings have decreased every year with Sexton and with rumors that the Cavs players do not like the way Sexton commands the offense, it's best to start over.

Trade Sexton For Cade

What better way than to dangle Sexton and a pick swap with the Pistons to take the consensus No. 1 prospect in Cunningham?

It's a win-win for both sides. The Pistons still get a top-three pick and a promising, and young guard. The Cavs will get a true alpha in Cunningham and they will be able to save themselves from salary cap-hell.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching Sexton. I am all for pairing Sexton with whoever the Cavs would draft at No. 3 overall, but being a bad team with money problems is not worth the upside of Sexton.

Even if Sexton elevates his game under a max deal in Cleveland, money constraints will limit any potential playoff window the Cavs have under that deal. It would be best to just restart and grab a better talent.