Cavs’ Matthew Dellavedova could be part of deep 2019 FIBA WC run with Australia

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova has had his share of big game experience in the NBA, and it appears that he could be a part of a deep run in the 2019 FIBA World Cup with his Australian squad.

As we’ve touched on many times here at KJG, Cleveland Cavaliers veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova has been in his fair share of big games, and performed pretty well when he was with Cleveland in two runs to the NBA Finals.

Along with that, when given the opportunity, Dellavedova was solid with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2017 postseason, too.

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Additionally, we’ve hit on how Delly has been a participant with Team Australia in international play previously, and he’ll get another chance with his native squad to compete in high-level international competition in the upcoming 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, which in its entirety, runs from August 31-September 15.

Dellavedova’s Australian team has had pretty good continuity for several years, and in terms of other NBA players on it, they have the Utah Jazz’s Joe Ingles, the San Antonio Spurs’ Patty Mills and Aron Baynes of the Phoenix Suns.

Plus, the Boomers also have Andrew Bogut, who had proven to be a valuable defensive player and good roller/secondary passer in the NBA for many years as well when healthy and I would imagine has been good for the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League, and often has played well in international play.

So with a team that seems to have great chemistry and has some notable NBA talent, it appears Australia could very well be in for a deep run in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

The Australians are fresh off beating Team USA recently in an exhibition matchup, where they were victorious 98-94 in Game 2 of the International Basketball Series between the two, and just as he’s been in the past for the Cavs, Dellavedova was a steady player that was his usual unselfish, as evidenced by his five assists (per Usab.com) and his toughness was again on display, as it often is with the Cavaliers.

This was the first time the Aussies have beaten Team USA in international competition, and it was, per Usab.com, the first loss for the team in its last 78 games in international competitions/exhibitions.

Though as has been well-documented, the U.S. team is not nearly what it’s been in the past talent-wise in this sort of international competition, they still have plenty of high quality NBA players, such as Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, the Boston Celtics’ Kemba Walker and the Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner, to name a few.

Obviously, the Americans are still going to be the favorite to win this upcoming tournament, though, but a win over them is still a pretty darn big deal for Dellavedova and company.

As far as other potential challengers for the Americans, Team Spain and Team France are always tough in this sort of setting, and those teams have players such as the Suns’ Ricky Rubio and the Toronto Raptors’ Marc Gasol (among others on Spain) and the Jazz’s Rudy Gobert and the Orlando Magic’s Evan Fournier (among others on France), and as Cavs.com’s Joe Gabriele emphasized, Team Greece will be a contender in the tournament in large part due to the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo always being a force.

Along with that, I’d imagine Team Serbia, with Denver Nuggets star big Nikola Jokic (who led qualifying bigs in assists last season, per NBA.com) headlining it and being filled with size, would be a formidable opponent for the U.S., who doesn’t have a plethora of bigs.

So again, though, I’d imagine that the Australians could be in store for a deep run in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and with his experience in playing for his country before and playing in the NBA postseason four times in his career (per Basketball Reference) and with him still being a quality ball-mover, defender at the point of attack, a solid rotator and catch-and-shoot three-point threat (a 38.1% career three-point hit rate, per Basketball Reference), Dellavedova could be a key part of a potential deep run, too.

Hopefully the soon-to-be 29-year-old Dellavedova can stay healthy in that competition, and be ready to go for the Cleveland Cavaliers to begin the 2019-20 season, because they are better off if he’s available to play in meaningful minutes. I also hope the Cavs can potentially sign him to an extension for two years or so if possible before the start of next season, or at least that Delly sticks around through the 2020 trade deadline.

At any rate, best of luck to you in this World Cup competition, Delly (though of course I’ll still be pulling for the U.S. to take home the championship).