Cleveland Cavaliers: Everyone needs a ‘Delly’ in their life

Matthew Dellavedova will make his return to the floor as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday against his former Milwaukee squad. But honestly, it’s just good to have Delly back in Cleveland.

Everyone needs a “Delly” in their life. Most may already have one (or a few), some may not even know who their “Delly” is. But there is one out there for you and that’s a good thing.

Remember growing up at school and having to race your classmates to see who finished their multiplication tables first? While you thought you were doing your greatest, someone slams their pencil on the table next to you in lickety-split fashion and flashes a grin. They may not have more answers correct than what’s on your paper but the fact that they out-paced you is infuriating to the core.

Maybe you’re at your job and you’ve done six full days of service. You’ve grinded and had an excellent week, getting compliments for the things accomplished that will help the company grow. Then comes in the co-worker who’s taken no days off and has been pulling overtime the entire seven-day stretch. Everything just talked about has been brushed off and now everyone’s huddled around the bigger talk of the town.

If either of those situations posed any factor of relatability, you’ve met your “Delly”. And that’s a good thing.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Dellavedova, along with John Henson and a few future draft picks, nobody expected to get thirty points every night from Dellavedova. They didn’t expect a bunch of flashy dribbles that display tremendous ball-handling. Heck, they didn’t even expect to receive a lockdown defender, per se.

So why is it that everyone was elated in Northeast Ohio when news of the trade broke?

Energy.

Energy, effort, whatever you want to call it. Simply put, Dellavedova is the Energizer Bunny. His infectious hustle on the floor is something that every organization desires to have in their locker room, many teams lacking that particular boost. Diving on the court for loose balls and pressuring his matchup into bad decisions, or at the very least, expending double the energy is what Cleveland fans enjoyed for the first five years of Delly’s NBA career. Quite honestly, it made some of the guys on that eventual championship roster better.

When you think about who immediately benefits from this acquisition, it’s gotta be Collin Sexton. Sexton is a point guard, for starters, and he shares a similarity with Delly that is very clear.

That would be the defensive end, where Delly thrives. During the Finals runs the Cavs went on, Delly was very pest-like against opposing guards and was even called upon in 2015 to match up against the then-reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry. While Curry would get the better of Delly in those exchanges, no one can forget the multi-game period in which Steph looked human while being pestered by the Aussie.

Sexton’s defensive tendencies are getting better but imagine what at least a year of Delly’s guidance could do for him. Early on, the rookie is still learning the ways of defensive sets, sometimes getting caught trailing from his man or not playing the pick-and-roll clean. These are techniques that will take time for a 19-year old to learn and Sexton has faced his share of growing pains. But he was really working with no on-court mentor for close to a month with George Hill out due to injury, which leads some to question how much that may have stalled down his growth and understanding.

Now with Dellavedova’s feisty defense back in Northeast Ohio, there should be some excitement in the air for how much better Sexton can become as a two-way player. His offense is already explosively effective and his effort on the defensive front is apparent. Now it’s about Dellavedova guiding him to finely-tune his defense while also giving veteran pointers on the game as a whole.

Remember, Delly nearly drove Kyrie Irving insane at practice during the two’s time together in Cleveland. He was an undrafted rookie then, but one would be foolish to think he doesn’t bring that same energy now. That will help Sexton without a doubt.

In life, we get very angry or frustrated when someone outworks us in any facet of life. It’s in our blood as humans. But the person outworking us isn’t the bad guy or girl, rather they’re a blessing. They push us to go harder and reach our goals and destinations. While they may be a pain in the side at the time, you’ll thank them for making you give your all.

That’s why everyone needs to find their “Delly” in life. Thankfully for Cleveland, they brought theirs home.