Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to a four-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. That gives the Cleveland Cavaliers other options, including to bring him back.
Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to a four-year, $38 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN‘s Zach Lowe.
The Cleveland Cavaliers still have the option to bring Dellavedova back, however. They sent a qualifying offer to Delly on Wednesday, which makes him a restricted free agent. That means that the Cavs can match the Bucks’ offer and bring him back.
Dellavedova, 25, is coming off of his best season during his short, three-year NBA career. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game with the Cavs. He improved as a shooter to a career-best 41.0 three-point percentage.
What makes him a popular free agent target is his ability to be a two-way player. Delly brings gritty, and sometimes dirty, defense. He is willing to do whatever it takes to stay glued to his opponents on the defensive end of the court.
Dellavedova has struggled during the NBA Playoffs in the two years the Cavs have appeared in them with him on the roster. He has shot a poor 34.8 percent from the field and an even-worse 29.9 percent from three-point range. What keeps him on the court is his stingy defense.
The Cavs traded into the 2016 NBA Draft to acquire the 54th overall pick and drafted Oakland point guard Kay Felder. Felder is an explosive point guard with great athleticism.
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As a three-year college veteran, Felder was the only player to rank top five in points per game (24.4) and assists per game (9.3) in the country during his junior season. Felder was named the Horizon League’s Player of the Year and can certainly fill a role off the bench.
Felder projects as a two-way player thanks to his quickness and physicality, despite only being 5-foot-10. He is great at getting in passing lanes and finding easy baskets in transition.
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His great court awareness and killer step-back jumper gives the Cavs a potentially lethal weapon off the bench, regardless of whether they bring Dellavedova back or not.
The Cavs will have three days to match the Bucks’ contract once Dellavedova signs the offer sheet. The NBA has a moratorium for new contracts that is lifted on July 7th, meaning that is the first day that players can officially sign contracts.
Remember the ever-important free agency mishap by the Dallas Mavericks last summer when they agreed to a deal with DeAndre Jordan, but then the Clippers pried him away and signed him when the moratorium was lifted.
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It will be a few days before Dellavedova knows his fate, thanks to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Until then, he is a Milwaukee Buck after agreeing to a four-year, $38 million deal.