The Cleveland Cavaliers have not had Matthew Dellavedova in game action this season, as Dellavedova has not been fully back yet due to complications involved with a serious concussion he suffered in the Cavs preseason opener versus the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 12.
Per a report from The Athletic‘s Kelsey Russo and Joe Vardon (subscription required) a few weeks back, Dellavedova was still experiencing symptoms related to that and had not been able to “ramp up” his workouts to seemingly back into game shape.
Dellavedova has had other concussions in his NBA career, and with concussions/head injuries being tricky, per Russo and Vardon’s report, it appeared as though the veteran might end up having to retire.
Fortunately, he tweeted out shortly thereafter how retirement was not “on my mind” at all, and that it was a “temporary setback,” and that Delly was essentially pumped to get back at it with his teammates. And last week, Delly tweeted out how he was seemingly getting in an on-floor workout, and that it looked as if he was making noticeable progress.
Plus, on Wednesday, although Dellavedova was not in the team practice, let alone live portions, per Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Delly has been able to work out but watched practice, via Basketballnews.com’s Spencer Davies. That was a positive sign, though.
Matthew Dellavedova has been able to work out, watched #Cavs practice today, per Bickerstaff.
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) February 17, 2021
The Cavs could use Dellavedova, even while it wouldn’t likely be in a bunch of minutes regularly, as a primary playmaker in spurts, to ease the playmaking burden on Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, to some degree, frankly, too.
Unfortunately for Delly, though, he had another rough bout of bad luck on Saturday. According to a Cavs status update, Dellavedova was evaluated then at “Cleveland Clinic Courts after alerting team medical and athletic training staff of pain he was experiencing in his lower right abdomen.”
This was what the Cavs status update stated from there.
"“A CT scan at Hillcrest Hospital revealed acute appendicitis, for which surgery was necessary. Dellavedova is in recovery and his status will be updated as appropriate.”"
Fortunately, Dellavedova would then tweet this out, which was nice to see from him.
All good, Appendix out. My run of good luck is going to be crazy good after this 👍
— Matthew Dellavedova (@matthewdelly) February 20, 2021
This was just more tough injury luck for the Cavs vet.
Dellavedova was just seemingly on his way to having a good chance of being back, or available, perhaps within the next two-plus. Now it’s even tougher to suggest what his potential timetable, of which was uncertain even beforehand with him still working his way back, will be.
For Delly, though, it’s so unfortunate for him with how this season has gone, injury-wise. He, again, is yet to play this season after signing a one-year, veteran minimum deal with Cleveland before the 2020-21 campaign, with one-year veto power in that deal for a possible trade scenario.
It really has stunk for Delly, who has played in seven seasons in the NBA, featuring two stints with the Cavs, and then with the Milwaukee Bucks in between, to have had this rough luck this season, given the concussion recovery that’s been ongoing, and having to have his appendix removed on Saturday?
This guy simply can’t catch a break, and even while I wouldn’t have expected Dellavedova to play a ton of the time, necessarily, Cleveland could use him as a backup point guard still in spurts.
Though Delly’s reworked shot didn’t do him any favors last season, as evidenced by him having by far and away a career-low 23.1 percent hit rate from three-point range, he still was a very productive ball-mover when he was in games in spot minutes/more of a role before the season’s hiatus/end of it for Cleveland.
He had a near-career-high with 7.9 assists per-36 minutes in 2019-20. Moreover, hopefully Delly can be in game action at some point for the Cavs, perhaps next month after the All-Star break.
Rest assured, though, he’s had to have aided Garland and Sexton behind the scenes/in huddles, one would assume again as he did last season, as a mentor.
We’ll have to see regarding the timetable, but one thing’s for certain: the Aussie’s toughness will never be questioned. Get well, Delly.