Cavs Reload for Upcoming Season
- Jul 28, 2015
- 2 min read
After an extraordinary 2015 Finals for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Matthew Dellavedova has been resigned to a one year, $1.2m contract, significantly less than the $5m contract that he was reported to agree to earlier this month.
The Australian born point guard, who started 7 playoff games in place of the injured Kyrie Irving, never averaged more than 5 points across his only two seasons in the NBA, yet exploded in the playoffs, providing clutch scoring for the Cavs. Dellavedova largely scored in single digits but came up big against the Chicago Bulls in game 6 (EC quarter finals) by scoring 19 points, and followed that up with a 17 point performance against the Atlanta Hawks in the ECF. All this coming from a sophomore point guard who was never the best offensive player, even in college. His best performance was saved for Game 2 of the NBA FInals against the Golden State Warriors, where he scored 20 points, including a circus shot that resulted in an and-1 that would give the Cavs enough of a buffer to pull through and win.
While Dellavedova's production came out of nowhere and was on the front page of most news websites across the NBA, fans need to be reminded that he is nothing more than a solid rotation/backup point guard. He was an enigma throughout the playoffs as no team had him on their scouting report and it will likely stay that way. While it was a great story to watch unfold (read: Linsanity), offering Dellavedova a significant contract after a few weeks of solid play would be an egregious move on the part of Cleveland management. Especially when they're retooling the way they are.
It all started when Brandon Haywood and Mike Miller were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for two second round picks but more importantly received a $10.5m trade exception from Haywood. This takes the Cavs from $32m over the luxury tax to roughly $4m, which saves them plenty of money for two players who contributed next to nothing last season. That being said, LeBron knows just how valuable Mike MIller can be for a playoff team.
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