Collin Sexton rarely stands still.
It’s 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.
The thing about hyperactivity is it can’t always be controlled. Sexton gets upset sometimes — most often with himself. He paces during dead balls, mutters to himself in transition, bangs his knuckles into his temples after bad turnovers. He 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 him a $35,000 fine from the league.)
Sexton lives his life on the basketball court by the simple principle that energy is contagious. If he’s right, then his teammates certainly should be infected five weeks into his Bulls tenure. He is never static. And while Sexton doesn’t 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.
“I’ve been playing like that all my life,” Sexton, 27, said. “I’ve been able to channel my energy to where it helps not just myself but also the team. I don’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, he’s on his own thing.’ I’m trying to bring the energy for the guy next to me.”
Off the court, Sexton finds ways to slow himself to a more manageable pace. He’s 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’s quick to smile.
The difference between Sexton’s personas on and off the court can be jarring. No one knows that better than teammate Isaac Okoro, who grew up playing with Sexton in the Atlanta suburb of Powder Springs, Ga.
Even as a kid, Sexton already had adopted the same mannerisms — banging his head, slapping the floor, talking to himself at the free-throw line. That intensity never wavered through his one year at Alabama, remaining the same when he was reunited with Okoro in Cleveland and again in Chicago.
“I always tell people — look, this is him,” Okoro told the Tribune. “It’s not a gimmick or anything. This is common. He’s been like this.”
Sexton is all heart. But eight years into his professional career, it’s 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. He started all but 10 games as a rookie and averaged 24.3 points by his third season.
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 — 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), falling out of starting lineups — seemed to reflect a player in flux at a turning point in his career.
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 — or as a reliable player anywhere in the league.
To make that case, Bulls coach Billy Donovan believes Sexton still needs to build consistency.
“I love the fact that he loves to play and loves to compete,” Donovan said. “That’s an incredible starting point. He’s been in the league for eight years. He’s proven he can score in the NBA. The next iteration for him — because he’s still relatively young and a lot is ahead of him — is can he raise the players around him.”
Sexton’s 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’ 115-110 loss to the Cavs at the United Center.
But scoring is not enough on its own to earn minutes as an NBA shooting guard. Sexton still is working on his vision as a playmaker, struggling with decisions under the basket and allowing his 6-foot-3 height to limit him at the rim. He is averaging only 2.3 assists for the Bulls, a team desperate for creativity on the attack.
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. He has shown flashes of this potential throughout his short tenure with the Bulls.
But again, consistency is key. Sexton can overcommit on both ends of the court. Donovan sees balance as the determining factor in his career.
“I want him to be aggressive and I want Rob (Dillingham) to be aggressive,” Donovan said. “There’s 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’re making growth in the areas we’re pointing out to them without taking away their identity as a player.”
To Sexton, this type of feedback is crucial at this point in his career.
He welcomes Donovan’s blunt assessment, which he describes as a catalyzing force in his short time with the Bulls. He 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.
“I know I’m able to adjust to whatever is needed from me,” Sexton said. “I’m ready to take on more challenges. I like to embrace adversity. That’s who I want to be.”
