httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91gdWwZNH8
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Alabama guard Collin Sexton with the No. 8 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday.
Sexton, 19, averaged 19.2 points and 3.6 assists as a freshman for the Crimson Tide.
Sexton worked out for the Cavs in Cleveland the day after the NBA Finals and made such an impression that Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert went to Twitter to tout him as a prospect.
Multiple team sources praised Sexton’s character and competitive nature to ESPN. “It just shows all my hard work paid off,” Sexton told ESPN’s Maria Taylor during the draft broadcast when asked about his rise from being an unranked prospect to a lottery pick.
Sexton was asked to share his recruiting pitch to LeBron James to bring the three-time champion back to Cleveland for next season and beyond.
“Man, LeBron, let’s do it!” Sexton said.
The Cavs tried to trade up to acquire the Memphis Grizzlies’ No. 4 pick on Thursday, a team source told ESPN, to no avail.
Cleveland acquired the No. 8 selection, originally owned by the Brooklyn Nets, last summer in a trade with the Boston Celtics when they parted ways with Kyrie Irving.
The pick comes two years and two days after Irving hit the biggest shot in franchise history with a go-ahead 3-pointer in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, assuring the Cavs their first championship.