Cavs: Re-signing Matthew Dellavedova was for locker room element

The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly re-signing Matthew Dellavedova was a sound move.

Matthew Dellavedova is a player that’s given the Cleveland Cavaliers all he’s had, both in rebuilding, contending and again, rebuilding situations.

After signing with the Milwaukee Bucks via unrestricted free agency before the 2016-17 season, Dellavedova was traded back to Cleveland in the early portion of 2018-19, where he spent his first three seasons. In his second tenure with Cleveland, Dellavedova had 7.3 points and 4.2 assists per outing in 36 appearances in 2018-19, and averaged 3.1 points and 3.2 assists in 57 appearances in 2019-20.

And now, after it seeming somewhat unclear as to whether or not Dellavedova would be back next season with him then set to be an unrestricted free agent, Dellavedova will be.

Dellavedova agreed to re-sign with the Cavaliers, according to a report from Olgun Uluc of ESPN Australia & New Zealand. Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that will be on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal.

Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor reported more details from there.

"“The two sides are finalizing the particulars of a one-year deal worth around $2.1 million. Dellavedova will also have one-year Bird restriction and veto power on any potential trade, sources say.”"

Fedor also added that there was, pre-offseason, “mutual interest,” in Delly being back, and that the Wine and Gold “view Dellavedova as an important culture piece and steady backup who can also fill in as a starter when needed.”

From my perspective, this re-signing was about the intangibles/team dynamic with Delly.

Dellavedova’s re-signing by the Cavs was for the locker room element.

It’s evident that the Cavaliers bringing Dellavedova back was for the locker room aspect, which I’m on-board with.

For a Wine and Gold squad with plenty of youth at the guard positions with the likes of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. as key contributors, having Dellavedova around to help them behind the scenes/as a culture piece isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Dellavedova is not making $9 million, either, for comparison’s sake, as he did in the last season in what was the last year of a four-year, $38 million deal he signed with the Bucks in the summer of 2016. Granted, that was an offseason filled with bloated contract signings.

Anyhow, this Dellavedova signing was a good move by the Cavaliers for their young guards, as Dellavedova has mostly been a good decision-maker in his career in a reserve lead playmaking role. Even with Delly’s modified shot doing anything but wonders for him and having career-lows across the board scoring/shooting-wise last season, Dellavedova still was capable of getting others involved when he was on the floor consistently.

Dellavedova, despite shooting a ghastly 23.1 percent from three-point range, for example, and playing a career-low 14.4 minutes per outing, did still have 3.2 assists per outing in 2019-20. Plus, he had a near-career-best 7.9 assists per-36 minutes. And while Dellavedova isn’t the same defender he once was on-ball, he still is a quality team defender.

So for Cleveland’s youth on a veteran’s minimum deal especially for next season, seemingly being at $2.1 million, per Fedor, this is a signing I can get behind. Although it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility with it being a one-year deal, I wouldn’t expect Delly, from a team-friendly deal/mentorship/passing perspective, to be a realistic potential trade candidate, either.

Dellavedova is beloved by many in the Cavs fan base, and clearly, he’ll help from a mentorship standpoint for the Cavs’ young players/be a locker room culture piece. Dellavedova is obviously an NBA champ, back with the Wine and Gold in 2016 over the Golden State Warriors, just like Kevin Love, and Cleveland knows what he provides.

In some minutes, albeit not many next season I wouldn’t think, he should get the ball hopping, leading to productive movement/quality shots for others.

That’d seem to relate to Love, Sexton, Dylan Windler and the recently-signed Damyean Dotson as catch-and-shoot threats, for example. And in relation to interior threats, we should see some lobs to Andre Drummond, Larry Nance Jr. and the recently-acquired JaVale McGee (via trade with the Los Angeles Lakers).

But circling back, to me, what jumps out from this Dellavedova re-signing is how he’ll be a crucial locker room presence for the Cavs.

And in a role where he’ll seemingly be more of a spot minutes/not every game-type of player, that’s just fine with me, regarding the 30-year-old point guard.