Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova will be on Team Australia in 2019 FIBA WC

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova will be participating with Team Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup of Basketball, which is a nice distinction for him.

Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers seem to love guard Matthew Dellavedova, who has made his mark (mostly in Cleveland) for his gritty play at both ends of the floor.

After reportedly being traded back to Cleveland amid the 2018-19 season after two-plus seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, Dellavedova again made his mark with the Wine and Gold, and even though he only played 36 games last year for the Cavs (per Basketball Reference) due to a combination of injuries involving a reported concussion to go with knee complications earlier in the year, fans again were pleased to have him back.

Dellavedova’s toughness and good spot-up three-point shooting will reportedly be on display for Team Australia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup of Basketball (at least at the start), per an official roster announcement from Basketball Australia (and h/t Fear The Sword’s Chris Manning).

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This is a cool opportunity for Cleveland’s solid backup point guard, who has previously made his mark for Team Australia, and as shown by the above announcement, will be one of nine NBA players on the Boomers. Last season with the Cavs, Delly averaged 7.3 points on 50.2% effective field goal shooting and 4.2 assists per game (per NBA.com).

It’s an opportunity that was extended to a two-way wing on last season’s Cleveland Cavaliers team in Deng Adel as well.

The event runs from August 31-September 15 in various locations in China, and as Manning noted, competition for the Aussies begins on September 1 against Canada in the city of Dongguan, and (again per Manning), Dellavedova and his team before the tournament play against the “Canadians twice and the United States twice in exhibition games in Australia.”

Hopefully Dellavedova is continuing to recover from an injury-riddled season in which he only was active in 48 games combined with the Bucks and Cavs.

Though he is one of several expiring pieces on Cleveland’s roster (at least for now and as Manning hit on) heading into the 2019-20 season, I hope that he is extended at some point this offseason and can be a steady player and presence for Cavaliers head coach John Beilein in the coming years. Dellavedova is arguably the best passer on Cleveland right now, and he’ll likely demonstrate that ability in World Cup play later this year.

As a side note, young Cleveland wing Cedi Osman will be playing in World Cup competition as well for Team Turkey.