The Cavaliers now have leverage to retain both Sexton and Nembhard during free agency.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have extended a qualifying offer to guard Collin Sexton and a Two-Way contract qualifying offer to guard R.J. Nembhard, Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Sexton (6-1, 192), appeared in 11 games with the Cavaliers last season before missing the final 71 contests due to a left knee meniscus tear, finished the 2021-22 campaign with averages of 16.0 points, a career-high 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.91 steals in 28.7 minutes per game. Selected as the No. 8 overall pick by Cleveland in the 2018 NBA Draft, Sexton owns career averages of 20.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists in four NBA seasons with the Cavaliers. Sexton’s qualifying offer is worth $7.2 million since he did not meet starter criteria. It would’ve been about $8.56 million if he had.
Nembhard (6-5, 200), who went undrafted out of Texas Christian University in 2021, originally signed a Two-Way contract with Cleveland on Oct. 16 and appeared in 14 games for the Cavaliers this past season. He was converted to a standard NBA contract on March 31 and waived on April 7 before signing a second Two-Way contract with the Cavaliers on April 10. Nembhard also played in 15 games (14 starts) for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, averaging 24.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 38.4 minutes per contest.
It appears that Cleveland did not extend a Two-Way qualifying offer to guard Brandon Goodwin, who averaged 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 13.9 minutes per game. If that’s the case, it opens a path for the Cavaliers to sign rookie big man Isaiah Mobley to a two-way deal. Mobley is the older brother of Cleveland phenom Evan Mobley.