{"id":669051,"date":"2026-03-20T11:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/669051\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:45:18","slug":"guard-still-finding-footing-with-chicago-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/669051\/","title":{"rendered":"Guard still finding footing with Chicago Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collin Sexton rarely stands still.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not in his temperament. The Chicago Bulls guard needs to move. He scrambles in the open court and tumbles to the ground after loose balls and chops his feet on defense. Sexton is rarely stagnant, rarely quiet, rarely caught looking.<\/p>\n

The thing about hyperactivity is that it can\u2019t always be controlled. Sexton gets upset sometimes \u2014 most often with himself. He paces during dead balls, mutters to himself in transition, bangs his knuckles into his temples after bad turnovers. The guard gained a slice of notoriety in his third game with the Bulls for flipping off the hoop after missing a free throw. (That gesture earned the guard a $35,000 fine<\/a> from the league.)<\/p>\n

Sexton lives his life on the basketball court by the simple principle that energy is contagious. If he\u2019s right, then his teammates certainly should be infected five weeks into his Bulls tenure. He is never static. And while Sexton doesn\u2019t always achieve his goal of controlling that chaos, his frenetic style of play is the calling card upon which he has built his NBA career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing like that all my life,\u201d Sexton, 27, said. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to channel my energy to where it helps not just myself but also the team. I don\u2019t want it to be like, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s on his own thing.\u2019 I\u2019m trying to bring the energy for the guy next to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off the court, Sexton finds ways to slow himself to a more manageable pace. He\u2019s a fan of hot yoga, a habit picked up in Cleveland, where Cavaliers players often turn out to classes in droves. When his mind races, he tries to put down his thoughts in a journal or turn to Bible study. He speaks in a soft lilt. He\u2019s quick to smile.<\/p>\n

The difference between Sexton\u2019s personas on and off the court can be jarring. No one knows that better than teammate Isaac Okoro, who grew up playing with Sexton just outside of Atlanta in Powder Springs, Ga.<\/p>\n

Even as a kid, Sexton already had adopted the same mannerisms \u2014 banging his head, slapping the floor, talking to himself at the free-throw line. That intensity never wavered through his year at Alabama, remaining the same when he was reunited with Okoro in Cleveland and again in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell people \u2014 look, this is him,\u201d Okoro told the Tribune. \u201cIt\u2019s not a gimmick or anything. This is common. He\u2019s been like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sexton is all heart. But eight years into his professional career, it\u2019s still unclear how that energy translates to the NBA. He drew considerable excitement when the Cavaliers selected him with the No. 8 pick in the 2018 draft. The guard started all but 10 games as a rookie and averaged 24.3 points by his third season in the league.<\/p>\n

\"TorontoBulls guard Collin Sexton, right, drives against Raptors guard Gradey Dick on March 18, 2026, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

But Sexton never found a next step past scoring. He hit a ceiling in Cleveland, then went to Utah as a key piece in the trade for Donovan Mitchell. The last year \u2014 bouncing from Salt Lake City to Charlotte, N.C., to Chicago (he came to the Bulls on Feb. 4 as part of the Coby White trade<\/a>), falling out of any starting rotation \u2014 seemed to reflect a player falling into flux at a turning point in his career.<\/p>\n

The weeks after the trade deadline served as a tryout for Sexton, whose four-year, $70.95 million contract will expire at the end of the season. The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent is eager to prove he could fit in Chicago \u2014 or as a reliable player anywhere in the league. To make that case, coach Billy Donovan feels the guard still needs to build consistency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the fact that he loves to play and loves to compete,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI think that\u2019s an incredible starting point. He\u2019s been in the league for eight years. He\u2019s proven he can score in the NBA. I think the next iteration for him \u2014 because he\u2019s still relatively young and a lot is ahead of him \u2014 is, can he raise the players around him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sexton\u2019s scoring ability has been on display in Chicago, where he is averaging 15.5 points on 48.4% shooting, including 36.9% from 3-point range in 14 games. He scored nine points Thursday in the Bulls\u2019 115-110 loss to the Cavs at the United Center.<\/p>\n

But scoring is not enough on its own to earn minutes as a shooting guard in this league. Sexton is still working on his vision as a playmaker, struggling with decisions under the basket and allowing his 6-foot-3 size to limit him at the rim. He is averaging only 2.3 assists for the Bulls, a team desperate for creativity on the attack.<\/p>\n

Donovan also believes Sexton can develop into a true lockdown defender, the type of scrappy perimeter stopper who can disrupt opponents at the point of attack. The guard has shown flashes of this potential throughout his short tenure with the Bulls.<\/p>\n

But again, consistency is key. Sexton can overcommit on both ends of the ball. Donovan sees balance as the determining factor in the guard\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to be aggressive and I want Rob (Dillingham) to be aggressive,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be some mistakes. I get that. No one is going to play mistake-free. But what you really want to see is if they\u2019re making growth in the areas we\u2019re pointing out to them without taking away their identity as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Sexton, this type of feedback is crucial at this point in his career.<\/p>\n

The guard welcomes Donovan\u2019s blunt assessment, which he describes as a catalyzing force in his short time with the Bulls. The guard knows he needs to grow in order to find a new home in the league. Maybe that home will be in Chicago. Maybe it will be elsewhere. Whatever the future holds, Sexton hopes to embrace the change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I\u2019m able to adjust to whatever is needed from me,\u201d Sexton said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to take on more challenges. I like to embrace adversity. That\u2019s who I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collin Sexton rarely stands still. It\u2019s not in his temperament. The Chicago Bulls guard needs to move. He…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":669052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[23604,960,3127,3128,42766,94161,5386,1818,20510,27845],"class_list":["post-669051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-billy-donovan","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-coby-white","tag-collin-sexton","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-isaac-okoro","tag-rob-dillingham"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116261337716839354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}