Cavs: Matthew Dellavedova should be brought back next season

The Cleveland Cavaliers had been getting terrific play from Matthew Dellavedova as of late, and he should be back next season, assuming the team and him could come to an agreement on a team-friendly contract.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently a team that was reportedly told to self-quarantine, as they were a team that came in contact with the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert within the last 10 days, and Gobert tested positive for novel coronavirus. The NBA is currently suspended, and further updates have since been provided on the potential length of postponement of the 2019-20 season, among other factors, via recent reports.

Plus, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski then reported that Gobert’s Jazz teammate, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive as well for COVID-19 on Thursday, and again, the Cavs were a team that was told to self-quarantine, as they last played against Gobert and Utah last Monday. No players on the Cavs/staff have shown symptoms of novel coronavirus, though, and the team does not currently intend to test players, due to that, and the limited availability of tests, anyhow, per the team and h/t Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

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Looking at a Cavalier that had been playing especially well leading up to suspension of the league, though, I’ve been really encouraged by the play of Matthew Dellavedova as of late.

Dellavedova had been getting much more of a workload in recent games largely due to Darius Garland (left groin strain), Kevin Porter Jr. (concussion protocol) and Dante Exum (left ankle sprain) being sidelined, but overall, it’s clear that Dellavedova, who is on an expiring contract, should be back next season.

Dellavedova is set to make $9.6 million in 2019-20, though that was before the league’s suspension, but at any rate, next season, he should be brought back by Cleveland.

Next season could seemingly have a different start date based on the aforementioned previous updates given, for reference.

Now, I understand that on the season, Delly’s been abysmal in terms of shooting the ball, and on open three-point looks, in particular. He has had 3.1 points per game in 14.4 minutes per outing this season, but his effective field goal shooting clip is by far and away a career-low 41.4 percent, as noted by Basketball Reference.

Furthermore, Dellavedova has hit a career-worst 23.1 percent of his triples in 2019-20,  though on two-pointers, he is shooting 48.8 percent. That’s not why Dellavedova should be brought back by the Cavaliers next season, though.

While I understand Delly might have lost his catch-and-shoot three-point shooting to a large degree, he still makes his presence felt virtually every time he’s on the floor as one of Cleveland’s best passers. While the sample size for him most of the year has been smaller in terms of having a high assist and low turnover rate, Dellavedova still is tied for second now with Kevin Love on Cleveland in assists per game with 3.2, as indicated by NBA.com.

Considering his vision, passing ability, which gets pieces such as Collin Sexton, who is a much-improved cutter, Larry Nance Jr. and others the ball mostly in their sweet spots, combined with solid team defensive instincts, Dellavedova should be brought back if possible next season.

This kind of pass, even just as a rotational piece for Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff most of the time, is something that shows Garland and others the right way to get others involved throughout games, and Delly is clearly a veteran leader that helps guys get in the right spots. Dellavedova masterfully worked the clock down to near the end of the first half against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday here, too, and his coach-on-the-floor type feel is invaluable in helping the young guys, and it’s I’m sure helping Sexton in his growth as a passer, which has been on display lately.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1237545770867277825?s=20

Granted, I know that Delly is not a piece that is going to command a ton of minutes in a typical sense, given his issues now as a shooter and with Cleveland needing to get Garland, Sexton and KPJ big minutes next season.

However, if Dellavedova and a combination of Sexton or KPJ, for example, are in a great rhythm, along with others and Delly is doing a terrific job in certain instances running things, he should keep getting minutes down the stretch for Bickerstaff. That’s factoring in that Bickerstaff, who recently agreed with the team on a four-year contract extension, has been preaching accountability and wanting to set the right example, as Fedor seemingly alluded to.

While again, I understand that he was playing a larger minutes-share than he was normally accustomed to playing throughout the year, it was pretty darn impressive that Delly recently had a career-high with 14 assists on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets.

Plus, he at least in the last few games has hit some open triples, and at key times.

With especially the rookie in Garland and KPJ sidelined recently, Dellavedova has averaged 7.3 points and a whopping 9.3 assists in 36.3 minutes per outing, per NBA.com. He’s also gotten plenty of feeds into Sexton as a cutter in set offense, which has shown Collin’s growth, too, and with Dellavedova on the floor, others on the Cleveland Cavaliers are often getting high quality shots.

If Andre Drummond opts into his $28.8 million player option for next season, which I’m not sure of the free agency period specifics at the moment, this sort of lob pass from Delly, if he’s brought back, would seemingly be there a bunch, and Delly’s timing on these sets the right example for Garland (who is pretty solid on that but does turn it over some) and more so Sexton.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1237549774103965696?s=20

It’s not really all that surprising that in 23.2 minutes per game post-All-Star break leading up to the suspension of the league, Dellavedova averaged 5.5 assists per contest. While again it was only 11 games, it was at least a positive that Delly hit 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts in that stretch, too.

Plus, while it seems like a high possibility that veteran leader Tristan Thompson could be playing elsewhere next season (though again it’s unclear how free agency will play out with the postponement of the NBA season), and also that Drummond could potentially opt out of his player option, and that Love could feasibly be traded at some before or during next season, I firmly believe Dellavedova should be brought back.

This is again assuming the 29-year-old reserve guard would be willing to sign a team-friendly deal.

Quite frankly, I would imagine Delly, who is a key locker room presence, loves playing for the Cavaliers and is a fan favorite, would.

The Cavs should eventually bring back Delly next season, feasibly on a one-year, team-friendly deal (and the Cavs realistically should have the cap space to do so), because he continues to show that when it’s needed, he’ll do a great job of playing incredibly hard, smart on both ends and help the young pieces in their development.

This kind of thing still epitomizes Dellavedova, and for a team and Bickerstaff that wants to establish a winning culture, this is the kind of stuff you show on repeat in the film room to the young guys.

Man that was Delly at his finest.

Hopefully, we’ll see that in spurts some in the next Cavs season to come, too.

So at any rate, it’s unclear as to what the timeline will be as of right now and a conference call between the league and its board of governors is reportedly set to be on later Thursday afternoon at 3:30 ET, per Wojnarowski, as far as how the rest of the 2019-20 season will play out in relation to the novel coronavirus concerns.

What’s clear to me, though, is that in the next season following the next free agency period, Dellavedova should be brought back by the Cleveland Cavaliers.