Matthew Dellavedova is one of this generation’s greatest Australian basketball players, a two-time Olympian and NBA champion, Delly is a key part of Australia’s national team as they prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Despite being a fan favorite in Cleveland for a number of years his role within the Cavaliers has become significantly limited as they have loaded up on young ball handlers through the draft like Colin Sexton and Darius Garland and added Boomers teammate Dante Exum via a recent trade.
Dellavedova is in the final year of a 4-year, $38 million dollar deal he signed in 2016 and with his recent output declining ie. Dellavedova has not played more than 9 minutes in a game, or scored a point this month the thought that this may be Dellavedova’s last season in the NBA seems a strong possibility.
Although the NBA door is not shut for Delly and if it were, there would no doubt be a plethora of overseas teams excited to have him run the point in the Euroleage, it’s possible the boy from Maryborough could also return home to play in the NBL.
Delly has said openly he’d always consider playing in the NBL when his NBA opportuntities dry up.
“I’d love to play here one day. Obviously, I want to play in the NBA for as long as I can. I’m sure mum and dad would enjoy me playing back here for a few years.” said in media interviews recently.
The question then becomes which NBL team would be the best fit for Dellavedova and how could they build their existing roster around him?
1. South East Melbourne Phoenix
The ‘Heartland’ already has one “Vic Country” product in Mitch Creek running up and down the court so adding another could be a nice touch for the Melbourne team which isn’t based in the city.
Defensively the Phoenix were woeful this year, ranking as the worst team in the league for in defensive rating. The defensive tenacity of Dellavedova would turn that around overnight and pairing him with sharpshooting John Roberson who has been brilliant offensively this season could see a one-two punch of not unlike those Perth Wildcats teams which featured Damian Martin and Bryce Cotton.
The mix of offense and defence between two players who can both run the point has been proven to yield success in this league over the decade.
Although the Phoenix are new and have been frugal with their budget so far, the chance to dig deep and really compete with the Melbourne United for basketball fans and corporate sponsorship makes a lot of sense
2. Brisbane Bullets
Brisbane missed out on a playoffs berth by a the smallest of margins. A team percentage countback being all that stopped them from their first post season appearence since returning to the league in 2016.
Brisbane has relied on Dellavedova’s Australian Boomers teammate Nathan Sobey to run the point within a system heavily reliant on Andrej Lemanis’ flow offence.
The Bullets current roster was a little unbalanced and resulted in them starting off slowly (Brisbane had a 6-8 record in Round 11) but adding Dellavedova to run most of the game from the point and shifting Sobey to his more natural shooting guard spot could see Brisbane come out of the blocks firing in season 2020-21.
3. Perth Wildcats
Damian Martin is in the twilight of his career and Perth will never be the same without him, Bryce Cotton is likely to become a naturalised Australian soon and seems set to remain in Australia so pairing him with player who can match the defensive skill set of Damian Martin but has also proven to be an NBA level scorer would almost guarantee Perth another NBL championship.
The Wildcats recently signing Miles Plumlee who is still earning $12 million a year from his final NBA deal shows they have the money capable of bringing Dellavedova to Australia.
The Red Army are generating sell out games every round in Perth so this is a move certain to keep them happy.
Honorable Mentions
It’s doubtful we could see Dellavedova return home to play for other Australian NBL teams but if
Illawarra; The Hawks roster needs improvement in all positions, the Hawks at the point guard spot being the weakest in the league right now. They obviously could use a player like Delly the most but it’s unlikely a team who is already in the media for financial issues could lure an NBA talent like Dellavedova without assitance from the league.
Melbourne United; While United have been known to go all out to sign the next big name players, under new chairman Craig Hutchison there’s certainly been pay cuts all round. Pairing him with his Boomers backcourt partner Chris Goulding in his home town state makes sense, but it would be tough to make a return on the investment needed to bring Dellavedova to the NBL team he grew up watching as a youth, opening the door to the Phoenix.
Hobart; The newest NBL team will need a big name to lead the team into it’s first season. Grabbing an NBA and Boomers level star like Mitch Creek has worked well for South East Melbourne, perhaps Hobart fork out whats needed to convince Delly to bring basketball back to the Apple Isle with a bang.
Sydney; With the team already paying for NBA champion Andrew Bogut’s hefty salary it’s unlikely they could add another NBA champion to the roster with the league’s salary cap.
Writing on NBL, NBA, NBL1 and occasionally WNBL My knowledge is more so focus in on the NBA and actively learning and studying the NBL during the NBL20 season. I write more essay based pieces or game reports in the case of the NBL1
