Central Notes: Cavaliers, Brissett, Diakite, Bulls

Promising young Cavaliers guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland are showing signs that they can be an effective long-term pairing, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Together, the 6’1″ teammates comprise a somewhat undersized back court, but can compensate for that with high-level playmaking and scoring. The two players were top-10 picks in consecutive drafts.

“It’s really fun to play with Collin,” Garland said of his Cavaliers teammate. “It’s cool being out there with him and seeing all the stuff that he can do with the ball and even without the ball. He’s gonna go get it regardless. Anytime we need a bucket, we’re gonna go to him. Like I said, he’s gonna play hard for 48 minutes, he’s gonna do what he do.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

• The Pacers used their mid-level exception to give newly-extended forward Oshae Brissett a $757K salary for 2021/22, about three times what his minimum would have been, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Instagram video).
• The Bucks applied the rest of their own mid-level exception, about $160K, to give power forward Mamadi Diakite a three-year deal, per Marks (Instagram video). The agreement also includes a $100K partial guarantee for the 2021/22 season.
• The Bulls, currently the No. 12 seed in the East by percentage points despite fielding two 2021 All-Stars in Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, could see their offseason recruiting pitches impacted if they can’t at least crack the play-in tournament this season, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The Bulls are 5-10 since trading two future top four-protected draft picks and former No. 7 selection Wendell Carter Jr. in a package for Vucevic. Chicago would need to nab the No. 10 seed to make the play-in tournament this season.