The Los Angeles Lakers survived their first non-Luka Doncic game of the season, 103-87 over the LA Clippers. In the process, it made one of my biggest offseason takes look foolish. When Marcus Smart walked from LA this offseason, and Rob Pelinka opted to replace him with Collin Sexton, I was extremely skeptical.
It was not necessarily because I didn’t like Sexton as a player or think he wasn’t a high-end backup point guard. Rather, it was because I didn’t see the value in spending a portion of the cap on a backup PG when Bronny James showed growth in his second season.
He seemed like he was ready for the role. I also made the argument that with Doncic and Reaves, they didn’t really need a good backup because the player in that role wouldn’t see the court a ton. Welp, Sexton shut me up tonight and made that take look as foolish as Deandre Ayton looked starting at center for the purple and gold last season.
Young Bull finished the game with 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range in 21 minutes. The cherry on top: Bronny didn’t log a single minute, earning his fourth DNP of the season.
Collin Sexton needed one Luka-less game to make me look silly
Sexton's energy was off the charts from the second he subbed in. He was making threes, talking trash, being a maniac defensively, and providing a spark on a night where the Lakers’ offense looked lost for large portions of the game without Luka in the lineup.
He did everything JJ Redick possibly could’ve asked him to do on both ends. His 11 points in the third quarter pretty much sealed this win for the Lakeshow.
He also deserves credit for lightening Austin Reaves' offensive load. All game, the Clippers were showing two at Reaves, and Derrick Jones Jr. was defending like if he held AR under 20 points, dinner was on him.
Something I severely overlooked with Sexton was not his energy on both ends or his value as a floor spacer, but the fact that he’s been a starting guard in this league. Many people, myself included, forget that Sexton was a 20-point-per-game scorer early in his career and had people wondering if he was a franchise-level PG in Cleveland.
Obviously, that didn’t pan out. He is much better suited as a second-unit guard. But he’s still super capable of putting up a dub if the Lakers need him to, and that brings real value on nights when Luka or AR is out for whatever reason.
Bronny has never averaged 20 (probably never will), but Sexton has and is more than capable of still putting up big-time scoring performances throughout the regular season. Come playoff time, you may not need Sexton as much because ideally Luka and AR are both playing 38-plus minutes a night. If you’re Redick, though, you have to make sure you get both of LA’s stars to the playoffs healthy.
Having Sexton step up on random nights throughout the regular season is a luxury the Lakers wouldn't have if they'd entered the season with Bronny as their number two point guard.
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