#1: For Delly to help mentor the Cavs’ young guys
To drive this home, it’s apparent that Delly’s not going to be an every-game player/key scoring threat for Cleveland, and we know that at this point.
But for young guys, such as clearly Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr., with Dellavedova being a veteran whose been through a number of different situations, he’ll again be able to aid them as a mentorship-type.
That should seemingly play out in-game on the sidelines, in practice and in the film room, I’d imagine, and based on Garland’s growth as a passer as last season wore on, one would think Delly’s guidance had some to do with that. Garland had a better 5.1-to-2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, as compared to his overall rookie one of 3.9-to-2.6, in his final 26 games active of 2019-20, for example.
And though the playmaking splits didn’t necessarily pop out, Collin Sexton did improve as a passer as Year 2 for him progressed, and being around Dellavedova has reportedly helped Sexton in a general sense with his approach to games/practice habits.
As KJG’s Robbie DiPaola touched on, it’s no secret that Sexton has a tireless work ethic anyway, but Dellavedova in that realm has likely only brought more out of that aspect from Collin throughout his career thus far.
In regards to Porter, who had a promising assist rate of 14.7 percent in Year 1 for more so a score-first player, Dellavedova could really help him for instances when he’s feasibly at the 1 for the Cavs.
That’d seem to be a decent amount, too, as that could be a great wrinkle when he’s out there and/or help ease the playmaking burden on Garland, and Delly’s feel as a passer should be invaluable for KPJ next season as his playmaking role expands.
Defensively, in a team/pick-and-roll sense, with his IQ at least in that way, should be a great resource for the likes of Cleveland’s young guys, and seemingly Dylan Windler/Isaac Okoro, too, from a rotational standpoint.
Just in a general sense, though, Dellavedova is reportedly viewed by Cleveland as being “an important culture piece” as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor illustrated recently. That will aid Kevin Love, with them being the last two members of that 2016 title-winning team, from a leadership standpoint, too, with Tristan Thompson now on the Boston Celtics.