The Matthew Dellavedova 5 on 5 Dedication

If you were the Cavs, what would you do about Delly?

Nate: I’d match in a heartbeat. I’m baffled – baffled by this team and its fans talking themselves into a 54th pick/five-foot-nine point guard to play backup as anything other than a shot in the dark. And I totally get Dan Gilbert not wanting to blow $40 million this year in salary and luxury tax to keep Delly. But the team has Shumpert making a very similar salary and it would not be hard to move Shump in this market.

Both these guys are good players by most advanced (non box score) metrics. They help their teams win. Delly does it by being a backup point guard and Shumpert does it by being a defending wing. Shumpert had a better 2015 (as you can see by his 2 year RAPM being higher) and Delly had a better 2016.

Delly has the edges on outside shooting, assists, assist:turnover ratio, Net Rating, and 2016 RPM/RAPM. Shumpert has the edge on points, steals, and raw rebounding. But as we’ve said many times on this blog, the only thing that matters is how many more points you score than the other team. Delly has a huge edge in Net Rating.

Point guard has become the quarterback of the NBA. You just can’t win without one on the floor. As such, a solid backup point is more important to the Cavs than a defensive wing. LeBron playing backup point is not a good long-term plan, and neither is Mo or Shumpert. The jury is still out on Jordan McRae, and I’m skeptical on Jay Felder, but if you can keep one, I’d find the odds of Jordan McRae being able to replace Shump as a defender more probable than his ability to run backup point.

If they can only keep one, the Cavs should move Shump and keep Delly. Matt is better and more important to the team.

Elijah: If I am the Cavs, I would easily match the offer. I’m not a huge believer in thinking that 4 Years/38.4 Million is a huge salary to commit to a rotation player in the current salary cap era. In fact, 10% of your salary cap space (which the Cavs are going exceed grossly anyway) for a player who was better statistically (RPM/RAPM) than most could even imagine.

Yes, Delly isn’t the most athletic player. He can’t create his own shot. However, he plays extremely smart defense, takes care of the ball (A:TO Ratio was outstanding), and knocks down open looks from deep (40% three point shooter). What’s not to like?

Cory: Let’s just pretend that the decision ultimately comes down to David Griffin. First, I’d pretend that I didn’t fart during the wedding toast, then I’d probably throw up from the anxiety of knowing that Delly would still be a Cav on like a $3 million a year contract if not for Varejao’s instantly regrettable extension. Griff has more hits than strikes, but I’ll go to my deathbed believing that Delly would be here for three more years if for not dishing out Andy’s rotten shrimp pirate vomit contract. After that, I’d take a double shot of Jameson, splash some cold water on my face, and I’d match the offer sheet. If nothing else, $9.5 million per season for Delly will look like a square deal in a year, and he’ll be at least be a trade asset. Asset management is the name of the game, and Delly walking for nothing completely wastes the time invested in him.

Tom: At one point this season I was mocked for saying that Delly would be the 4th most important Cavalier on many nights.  And for the majority of the season, even the most vile Delly hateahs had to recognize.  His assist to turnover ratio was 10th in the entire NBA.  He was 23rd in the NBA in raw plus/minus, and third on the Cavs behind LeBron and Kevin Love.  He, and not Kyrie Irving, was the point guard for the Cavs best regular season lineup, finishing the year as the 3rd best lineup in the entire NBA.

He’s just 25 and is a fan favorite.  He’s built up some serious chemistry with TT and LeBron.  He’s devastating as the passer in the pick and roll.  It’s beyond foolish to let him go.

If you were taking an unbiased appraisal of the situation you would conclude that Delly at less than $10 million a year in this current salary climate is a no-brainer, and you would prioritize him ahead of J.R., Richard Jefferson, James Jones, and any other players that could be re-signed.  And as Nate pointed out, it would be better to deal Shump for a 1-year contract or something and keep Delly.  He’s improved offensively every season and he can defend either guard position.  LeBron played better with Delly than with any other Cavalier last season. (Net Rating 17.9 in almost 1200 minutes!)

https://twitter.com/tompestak/status/708358129579401216

EvilGenius: I’ll start by saying, I’m glad I’m not the Cavs. In theory, it’s easy to just throw around @CavsDan’s cash like a drunken Powerball winner making it rain at the club…

Delly has been a polarizing player, even among Cavs fans.  Folk hero to many, scrub to some.  What’s your view? 

Nate: Delly is my favorite player – maybe of all time. My list probably goes: Z, Delly, Tristan Thompson, Andy, Mark Price. I fell in love with him when he went nutso on Bradley Beal in D.C. and willed the Cavs to a comeback. Then he had one of the guttiest performances I’ve ever seen when he chased Steph Curry around for 2.5 hours in game three of the 2015 finals, and put up 20 points, five assists, and four rebounds to go with it.

I’m guilty of loving him because he’s the pro version of me: borderline dirty, hard screens, hard fouls, tough/smart D, passes, three pointers, and missed layups. But he’s what I wish I was, and what I’d like every player I’ve ever coached to be, in the way he approaches the game: he’s competitive; he flies around the court; always communicates; he maximizes his talent; he never takes plays off; he’s smart; he’s a great teammate. As can be seen by his championship joy, he’s far more invested in his team’s success than his own.

Elijah: Delly has evolved for me.  At first, I genuinely disliked the guy.  My brother met him and after the experience, which I won’t divulge, I had an even more negative opinion about him than just being an Australian dude who hustles a lot.

But he seemed to really care and play really hard, which I liked, but I always felt like his minutes should go to Kyrie/Dion/CJ Miles/etc. instead of him.  However, since LeBron has been back, his fit really grew on me.  Delly is a guy that just consistently battles to win and gives his all on every play despite his athletic limitations.  I appreciated his effort and heart, especially in the 2015 playoff run.  I’m glad he grew to be a hero for some, witnessing some of the loudest cheers I’ve ever heard in the Q.  Overall, I respected the guy for giving his all, really improving him game, and not complaining when things didn’t go his way personally.

Cory: He’s one of my favorite Cavs of all-time. Even if he leaves, I’m happy for him. Even if he leaves, I’m proud of his tenure as a Cavalier. Marketing campaigns like “All In” cover each corner of The Q, and no player during the past three years has been as all in as Delly. He’s an absolute inspiration to anyone who loves the game, or to anyone who loves anything. This was his one shot, and he knew it, and he pushed himself to exhaustion to get the most out of it. He was a complete afterthought during the tragically mediocre 2013 draft, and he’s about to make more money than the #1 pick in that draft.

Delly’s charm is multifaceted. He’s Australian, so that’s instantly cool. His effort is nonstop. Each year he’s found a way to improve his game. Mostly, I think Delly lovers admire him so much because they think in a perfect world that they could have been him, and the truth is that they know they never gave as much as he did to the game and that’s why they aren’t.

Tom: Delly is a cult hero because he hustles so damn much – to the point that his body literally shut down after Game 3 of the 2015 Finals.  He’s considered a scrub by many because his raw, per-game box score production is low.  “He averages five points a game…”  The reality is that he’s the perfect embodiment of the no-stats all-star.  And I do mean perfect.

Not only is his per game production low, but his game is aesthetically displeasing:  He’s not smooth, his jumpy is cock-eyed, he jumps off the wrong foot, his misses can be bad misses, he winds up on more vines meant to mock his game than celebrate it, and, really, he doesn’t fit the profile of an NBA player.  He’s white but not a pure shooter, he doesn’t look particularly quick, and he doesn’t have an ego.  Instead of some rapper pose he offers an impassioned thumbs up when it’s time for a team photo (assuming he wasn’t cropped out).

All of this creates a profound cognitive dissonance when Delly actually does something good (it’s hard to believe the outcome given the ingredients that went in), while his leash stays ever short when his wrong-footed runner goes off the side of the hoop.  It’s literally the opposite of the Kyrie/Kobe effect – where their laziness, inefficiency, and failures are overlooked and their sweet-looking buckets the only thing anyone remembers.

The truth is that Delly is a pretty darn good backup guard – his spot-up 3 point shooting has become very good, his passing is excellent, he takes care of the ball, he can run an offense, and he is easily one of the most intelligent basketball players alive.  His clock and foul management are unrivaled, his PnR numbers are sublime, and we haven’t even brought up the most common characteristics of his reputation – the kid will run through a brick wall to get a loose ball or chase someone through a forest of screens.  He makes high usage players better.  He’s one of the best backup point guards in the NBA.  He is limited when he has to create offense for himself off the dribble and his finishing ability is poor.  His defense might be a bit overrated: his on-ball defense is fiesty but not always the most effective.  He’s better off-the-ball but he doesn’t bother shots.  If we stick to RAPM he’s a top 100 player in the league of 400+ players.

EvilGenius:

Are Delly’s best years in front of him?  Or were podium games in the 2015 playoffs the pinnacle of his effectiveness?

Nate: He’s only 25. The biggest part of his game that needs work: he needs quicker feet, and better lower leg strength to help him finish. I’d like to see him fix his J, but it is what it is. He’ll have to be a better three point shooter in the p/r to be successful too. The only part of me that wants Delly to leave is the part of me that wants to see him play in a pick and roll offense, where he can constantly hit roll men or shooters. Milwaukee is that team (though they need more shooters). Their guys will actually roll. He’d be a cult hero in that town. He’ll be great on whatever team lets him be great.

Elijah: I think Delly’s best games were the podium games in the 2015 playoffs.  As cliche and it sounds, the NBA is a make or miss league and when Delly makes his open shots, that is his peak as his effort on the defensive end and playmaking are consistent enough to be genuine.  I do think Delly could improve slightly more with his shooting but don’t think he will drastically improve in the future.

Cory: While they’re different players, I think he’ll have a career similar to Jose Barea. The playoffs are the biggest spotlight, and he shined last season. Podium games are rare and he had a few. Most people’s impressions of him will be sitting next to LeBron during the 2015 playoffs looking like a roadie from a for Mudhoney. He’ll go on and have a productive career no matter where he is, but I thoroughly believe that he needs a cast that accents his abilities to shine, and he’ll have that in Milwaukee with their uber athletic roll and finish abilities.. I’m ready for another “Fear the Dear” campaign, and he’s gonna thrive there.

Tom: I think he’ll continue to improve his shooting and get better at the mid-range stuff now that teams are chucking the roll men and forcing Delly to be a scorer.  I see no reason why he’ll plateau or regress.  I expect great things from him over the next few years.  That said, I’m not sure he’ll have as big of a stage as he did over the last two years if the Cavs don’t match the Bucks offer.

EvilGenius: Without question his best years are in front of him. Don’t get me wrong, those podium games were the stuff of legend, but they were magnified by the context of the situation. The team needed someone to step up and help LeBron in his hour of need with two of the “big three” sidelined, and Delly took the mantle for a game or two. The exertion of that pushed him to the brink of dangerous levels of exhaustion, and he just wasn’t the same guy afterwards in that series. He’s still just 25 years old. He made strides in his three point shooting last season. And now, it looks like he’s going to be heading to Milwaukee to sharpen his skills under the tutelage of one of the great PGs of our time, Jason Kidd. He’s also going to have some absolute skywalkers in the Greek Freak, Jabari Parker and Greg Monroe to whom he can lob his Loaded Wombat oops. The future certainly seems bright for Delly…

The Loaded Wombat…

What effect did the playoffs and especially the Finals have on Delly’s perceived value?

Nate: His horrible first couple games in the finals (and his bad luck) led to a significant reduction to his meaningful minutes in the finals. To many outside the Cavs it seemed as if Lue had lost faith in him, and Delly had lost faith in his shot. The finals is a horrible time to be hurt (if you believe that rumor) and to be in a slump (which we all saw). In the last three rounds of the playoffs, Delly’s shot disappeared. He shot 25% from the field and 14% (4-31) from three. Matthew went to the shoreline, tried to throw rocks into Lake Erie and missed.

Judging from the rumblings (and I’ve heard nothing beyond LeBron’s banana boat tweet and media “sauces”), Dellavedova’s perceived value to the Cavs could be low right now. But the first round (you know, back when LeBron actually rolled in the p/r?) Delly torched the Pistons for 9.5 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes with shooting splits of 57%/40%/80%. That, the regular season, and the 2015 playoffs are all the Bucks remember and all they need to remember, and that’s why Delly’s gonna make $9.5 million per year.

Elijah: I believe the Finals hurt Delly’s value a bit.  Not only did he not play much, but when he did, the Cavs statistically fell apart.  In addition, it seemed like Delly couldn’t buy a bucket despite receiving some great looks from his teammates during the championship run.  All in all, I don’t think it hurt him that drastically seeing the offer he received, but he may have gotten more dollars if he wasn’t getting looked over for guys like Mo Williams, Dahntay Jones, and struggling Iman Shumpert.

Cory: A part of me thinks that he must be hurt, or that he was just a David Blatt guy, and that Lue started trimming his minute in January. I was legit livid over seeing Mo Gotti on the court rather than Delly during the Finals, if for no other reason than he’d be the perfect technical bait for the groin stuff antics of Draymond.

Tom: It took a huge hit.  Mo Williams?  Are you kidding me?  No one is going to remember how well Delly played last season and during the first couple rounds of the playoffs – just that he was basically “unplayable” in the Finals.  Even when he was part of the most dominant stretch of Cavalier offense all season which occurred during the back-half of the Raptors series, he was overlooked. (Worth clicking on that Tweet – McMenamin acknowledges how much Delly was responsible for the “horns-rub” plays further down)

Delly was on the court. To my eyes I saw LeBron running the point, RJ screening/cutting and Frye spacing in tandem

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 24, 2016

The other thing is that Kyrie Irving played well and played a lot of minutes.  So that definitely affected the Cavs need to play him and thus his perceived value.

EvilGenius: It’s my opinion that Delly is a better PG option than Jeremy Lin. Linsanity got three years and $36M from the Brooklyn Nets… Delly got a four year, $38M offer from the Bucks. That math should tell you how much of an effect the playoffs and Finals had on Delly’s perceived value. If the 2015 Finals had played out prior to this season’s Free Agency, I believe Matty D would have probably been looking at $15 per easily, if for nothing else than his ability to hamper Steph Curry. As it was, the perfect storm of his dwindling minutes and opportunity (which was partly Ty Lue’s seemingly increasing lack of faith, and partly Delly’s own apparent lost confidence in his shot) resulted in a genuine anti-climax for a PG of his caliber. Clearly, Jason Kidd still valued him and was able to get him at a relative bargain… mostly because the Cavs may not value him enough to match the Bucks’ offer.

If Delly is indeed heading to another team, how will you remember him?

Nate: Looking like a hobo who snuck up to the podium with TT and Bron during 2015 playoffs after getting Gibson and Horford kicked out of games in the second round and the conference finals. My six-year-old still calls him “homeless guy Delly.” At the time I said it was #PeakDelly. I hope it wasn’t.

Elijah: I’ll remember him to be the guy that gave MVP Steph Curry fits in the 2015 NBA Finals.  In addition, the improvement in his game really shows that even at the highest level of athletics, hard work can truly pay off.  Delly is the kid in high school who locked himself in the gym for 12 hours a day to improve because he wanted to be better.  People may be annoyed with his perceived “dirtiness” and “cheap” play but the guy gives his all during every second that he is on the court.  In this day and age, it’s rare to see that, and for that, I’ll always remember that.

Cory: As a man of his times. If the Cavs weren’t such a train wreck during the 2013-14 season, would he have ever gotten his shot? I don’t believe in fate, it’s just too Disney. I certainly do believe in timing, and the Cavs were the perfect team for him after going undrafted, and he fought for that opportunity with everything he had.

Tom: I’ll remember looking up a hell of a lot of stats on him.  There wasn’t much to like about the 2013-2014 season for the Cavaliers.  Delly was one of the few bright spots.  We here were early Dellavedova adopters, some of us becoming zealots.  Over at gotBuckets we named him our gB Rookie of the Year.  I bought his G’Day Mate coffee.  He’s definitely my favorite NBA player to root for since I became an adult.  My lasting memories of his play will be the “is it a floater or an alley-oop” shots/passes that he perfected, much to the amazement of pundits (once again, the cognitive dissonance), and his tenacity, especially in the 2015 playoffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf2V0E8S-hw#t=2m34s

EvilGenius: I’ll remember him as one of the hardest working players in Cavs history. I’ll remember him for his heroic efforts in the 2015 playoffs and Finals. I’ll remember him as a proud Australian… which shone through brightly during Australia night this season. I’ll remember him for all of the memes he inspired about no splashing. I’ll remember the Delly trey/deli tray. I’ll remember his pre-game coffee routine. I’ll remember the Loaded Wombat. And, I’ll remember to still root for him to succeed in Milwaukee… just not against the Cavs. Most of all, I’ll remember him as a humble, hustling hellofadova of a human who gladly gave everything he had to make this team better. Good luck Wombat!

Bonus – post your favorite Delly YouTube clip or Vine.

Nate: I don’t know how anyone can watch this video and wanna get rid of this guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op04VjvcpBY

Or this video. I’ve never seen Shumpert dive on a loose ball like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkkZ_jgK9B8

Elijah: The first video that Nate posted is what I’ll remember forever about Delly. His grit and determination to make life miserable for the MVP in a pivotal Finals game when the Cavs were written off with no Kyrie and no Kevin Love.

Cory:

Tom: This is my favorite Vine of Delly because it perfectly sums up what I call: “The Delly Effect”.  This Vine was posted in real-time and subsequently to mock Delly for looking perfectly awkward.  Never mind that in a tight ball-game the shot didn’t go in.  No, ankles were broke, so stay woke, or something hip.  Look at how fiercely Delly forces his body to contest this shot.  Look at that final lunge.

https://vine.co/v/iBX2vIPdPqE