It’s fair to say that the beginning of the 2018-19 NBA season has been a challenging one for Australian Matthew Dellavedova. Having been a key contributor to Cleveland’s championship just three seasons ago, ‘Delly’ now finds himself completely out of Milwaukee’s rotation with only sparing minutes during junk time late in games.
Delly’s lack of court time has caused even Aussie fans to question the young guards future in the NBA.
Dellavedova is contracted to a $9.5 million dollar healthy deal both this season and the next, more than what many other guards like Fred VanFleet, Josh Richardson and Lou Williams are receiving from their teams, making it very difficult for the Bucks to facilitate a buy-out. Unless another NBA team is willing to trade for the tenacious defender, there aren’t a lot of options for Delly besides sitting at the end of Milwaukee’s bench.
Here are three teams that could benefit from Delly’s presence whilst allowing him to prove his long-term worth at NBA level.
New York Knicks
The Knicks have long disappointed their metropolitan fan base with a long-held losing culture which has seen then make the playoffs just five times since the turn of the century.
With the team trying to re-invent themselves under new coach David Fizdale, the Knicks are bereft of experience to help guide their young talent. If they were to acquire Dellavedova, he would remarkably become their second oldest player behind 33 year old veteran Courtney Lee who is currently out injured.
The Knicks currently lack anyone with championship experience, something Delly holds from his time at the Cavs. The Aussie would be able to find minutes within the Knicks rotation whilst also aiding the growth of young guards in Frank Ntilikina, Allonzo Trier and Emmanuel Mudiay.
New Orleans Pelicans
Although there may be better fits than the Pelicans, if Delly wants to earn significant playoff minutes then New Orleans may be his best option. He could seamlessly fit into the Pelicans bench rotation, playing tough defence whilst facilitating for superstar Anthony Davis and efficient outside shooters.
The Pels have moved Jrue Holiday to the point in the absence of the injury plagued Elfrid Payton, a move which signifies their lack of trust in any of their current back up point guards. Although they sit 9th in the Western Conference, they hold a reasonably strong 10-8 record and it’s difficult to see them missing the playoffs with Davis and a strong supporting crew.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns lack of depth at the point guard position makes them potentially the best destination for Delly right now.
With Phoenix currently starting Isaiah Canaan whose quality (or lack thereof) is shown by the fact he’s played more than 40 regular season games just once in his NBA career to date. Delly would find regular minutes in the Suns rotation.
As with the Knicks scenario, he would be able to bring leadership and experience that’s much needed in a young roster who’s recently lost key locker room guy Tyson Chandler to the Lakers.
These are just a few options available should he and the Bucks be willing to move on before the trade deadline. There’s no doubt the Bucks value his strong locker room presence whilst for Delly himself, he’d no doubt prefer to play on a quality team like the Bucks who are contending for a championship.
The future isn’t certain for Delly but people must remember, he’s only 28 years old and even if he is unable to push his way into the Bucks rotation this season, he will still be a huge part of Australia’s FIBA World Cup campaign and helping the Boomers to their first medal, a sure fire way to remind the NBA how good the kid from Maryborough can be.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
