It’s nice to know former Cavs PG Dellavedova is back in NBA, with Kings

To many Cleveland Cavaliers fans, Matthew Dellavedova is still a name that is near and dear to their hearts.

Dellavedova was hardly ever going to fill it up as a scorer, but he was a gritty player, bulldog defender at his best and he was a talented reserve playmaker, with 6.5 assists per-36 minutes in his NBA career.

“Delly” was a player who always provided energy in his minutes, typically off the bench, and his toughness was one that seemingly permeated the locker room. That was in both of his stints with the Cavaliers, too.

Dellavedova’s play set the tone when he was in there for the Wine and Gold, with his constant max effort, team-oriented style, passing creativity and hustle. It was truly a pleasure to watch him play, and Cavs fans will always be grateful for what he brought to the team.

Unfortunately, in his last year with the Cavaliers in 2020-21, Dellavedova was not in action much because of concussion symptoms, and that greatly limited him. He would eventually go back to play in his native Australia for the NBL’s Melbourne United, but he didn’t shut the door on a potential NBA return.

With that in mind, it was refreshing to see that Dellavedova would get another chance to play in the NBA recently.

Per a report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Dellavedova agreed to terms with the Sacramento Kings on a one-year, partially-guaranteed deal earlier this week.

Shortly thereafter, the Kings welcomed the vet to the team. The deal is reportedly for the vet minimum, which will be for roughly $2.6 million, albeit with the partial guarantee, as Scotto stated.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1553083812678098945?s=20&t=Wy03HffdUgbbXky5WdyNeg

It’s nice to know that Dellavedova is getting another NBA shot, given the energy he provided for the Cavs.

Dellavedova, as we alluded to, was not a key scoring presence or a dude that was going to necessarily wow you with skill in his time with the Cavaliers. Delly, who was originally an undrafted signing back in 2013, was a player that was known for his grit, tenacity on the defensive end, and passing abilities, when the opportunities presented themselves in the LeBron James return years as a playmaker.

In his two stints with the Cavaliers, Dellavedova had 5.3 points and 3.5 assists in 19.6 minutes per game, which obviously weren’t gaudy numbers. However, what he brought defensively when healthy often gave the Cavs a significant lift, as evidenced by what he provided in two postseason runs for Cleveland, one of which eventually was a championship run in 2016.

Additionally, fans can definitely appreciate how Dellavedova helped the team, and players such as Darius Garland and Collin Sexton as a leadership and playmaking presence in his second stint with Cleveland. That was following the team bringing him back, then as part of a trade package from the Milwaukee Bucks in December of 2018.

Granted, as we mentioned, while Delly did give the Cavs quality playmaking, and his vision and unselfish play was impactful in stretches in that second stint, health concerns did limit him some, and in 2019-20, his shooting woes did. The Cavs eventually brought Dellavedova back in 2020-21, but the concussion symptoms and issues reportedly ramping up his conditioning cut his appearances to just 13 games.

From there, it was good for Delly to be able to get some play in again, though, in Australia with Melbourne United. He seems healthy now, and after reportedly working out with teams at Las Vegas Summer League, it’s nice to find out that he’ll be back in the NBA, with the Kings in this sense.

I wouldn’t anticipate Dellavedova to be a rotational regular, honestly, but his toughness, ball movement sense, and defensive chops will be meaningful for a young Kings team that is looking to end their postseason drought. Dellavedova’s leadership should make a difference, and could help guys such as De’Aaron Fox, Keegan Murray, Davion Mitchell and offseason trade acquisition Kevin Huerter.

This isn’t going to be a notable role, realistically, for Dellavedova, but him back in the Association is a cool story for Cavs fans in that regard, I believe.

It’s also interesting that Delly’s first NBA head coach, then being Mike Brown with the Cavaliers in 2013-14, will be his head coach again with Sacramento. That was Brown’s second stint with the Cavs then as well, as an aside.

Anyways, it’s just nice to know that Delly’s getting another crack at the NBA this coming season, in what will be his ninth in the league in what will be his age-32 campaign. I wish him the best of luck.