Cleveland Cavaliers: Five takeaways from their 2019-20 media day

Potential veteran trade pieces that were interviewed really want to be here

We’ve discussed countless times how the Cavaliers have a bunch of players that are heading into the last year of their respective contracts, and those include guards Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova and Brandon Knight, along with Thompson and big John Henson.

Clarkson, who had 16.8 points per game last season and led qualified Cavs in scoring, is a bench microwave I believe could have trade value for perspective postseason teams, and I’d imagine the Cavaliers will exhaust all measures regarding that as the season progresses.

That being said, it’s clear that Clarkson really wants to be with the Cavaliers, as he said in his media availability, per Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz.

I’d still think that there’s probably a bigger possibility that the Cavs end up trading Clarkson, but it’s at least really cool to know that the talented 27-year-old guard wants to be in Cleveland for the long haul. Clarkson seems to be a great teammate.

Dellavedova is again, another expiring guard, and with his passing vision, defensive tenacity, and now quicker shot release he displayed at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China while playing for his native Australia, he appears to again have the makings of a big contributor for Cleveland’s bench if he’s given the opportunities.

Dellavedova, who has always had really good passing feel and is a career 38.1% three-point shooter, seems really excited to play in Beilein’s ball/man movement and spacing-predicated offense, per Davies.

Dellavedova is a fan favorite in Cleveland, and given that, and with the chemistry he has with players such as Love and with the way he, along with Brandon Knight, reportedly helped Collin Sexton in his development last year, I believe Dellavedova is definitely a player the Cavs should try to keep and eventually bring back if possible after next season; Delly really wants to be here as well, and seems to be a noticeable leadership presence, which will pay dividends for Beilein.

Thompson, who is another piece that has good chemistry with Dellavedova, was noticeably upbeat, and he seemed to echo that he wanted to be in Cleveland, too.

TT is undoubtedly one of the Cavs’ primary veteran leaders alongside Love, and he said that even though last year didn’t feature many wins, that is one of the “happier years” he had in Cleveland, per Swartz.

Overall, it’s again encouraging as a Cavs fan from a locker room and team morale standpoint that even expiring veteran pieces seem to be wanting to remain in Cleveland for the long haul.

Though it seems reasonable that a good amount of the expiring pieces will be traded as the year progresses to get younger pieces more meaningful minutes in a rebuild, it’s again still nice to see the potential players on the block that had media availability still wanting to be a member of the Wine and Gold, as that sets an example for the young players from a professionalism standpoint.