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Injury issues continue to pile up for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Cavs guard George Hill will miss two weeks with a sprained right shoulder. Hill was held out of Cleveland’s loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night due to shoulder soreness. Rookie guard Collin Sexton will start in Hill’s place while he is sidelined.
Though the injury is unfortunate for Hill, it will provide an opportunity for Sexton to get some extended run, which could be beneficial. The Cavaliers selected Sexton with the eighth overall pick in the 2018 draft with the intention of making him a building block for the future of the franchise following the departure of LeBron James in the offseason, but he has yet to win the trust of his veteran teammates.
According to a recent report from Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Cavs vets think that Sexton doesn’t “know how to play” — an issue Cavs coach Larry Drew had to address with his troops recently.
“I actually pulled some of the guys aside when we were in Orlando,” Drew said, via cleveland.com. “That was my exact point — having to be patient with a 19-year-old kid … Just didn’t think it was fair at all to go at a 19-year-old kid like that. As I told a couple of the guys, hey, you were 19 at one point. To step up to this level, I’m sure you would’ve been in a situation where you were making mistakes too. In order for Collin to learn, he’s going to have to make mistakes.”
When he’s out on the floor in Hill’s place, Sexton will be applying lessons he’s learned from the veteran guard.
“I know I can go to him about pretty much anything and I know he’s going to have my back and have the best interest for me,” Sexton said of Hill, via cleveland.com. “It’s good to have that veteran, older guy to lean on, especially so young so I can lean on him and he helps me out. That’s pretty cool.”
The largest lesson that Sexton has learned from Hill thus far is that mistakes will be made, but it’s important to use them as learning experiences.
“The biggest thing he told me was, ‘You’re going to make mistakes. It’s OK. Learn from them. Keep moving. Keep learning. And do it being aggressive.'”
On the season, Sexton is averaging 10.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game on 42 percent shooting from the field in 24.7 minutes per game.
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