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December 1, 2015Matthew Dellavedova was at least a mild folk hero last year. That much can be agreed upon no matter how you value his game. An undrafted Australian kid from a college that has produced seven NBA players, Delly averaged 32 minutes per game in the NBA Finals. He went toe to toe with league MVP Stephen Curry and even landed a few punches before the Cavs were knocked out in six games. He was absolutely in over his head — he did shoot 28 percent in the series, after all — but he played his ass off and, if only for a moment, looked as though he could play an actual role in the Cavs upsetting the Warriors.
He was far from a perfect guard then, and he remains imperfect now. But Dellavedova has gotten better this season, particularly as a passer. His offensive game may never be pretty, but it is increasingly effective. With Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert out, and Mo Williams occasionally sidelined, Delly has been a functional point guard. He stepped up big in Mo’s absence against the Milwaukee Bucks a couple weeks back, dishing out a career-high 13 assists. He followed that with a zero-turnover performance in the Cavs’ win over the Atlanta Hawks. He didn’t turn it over in either of his next two games either.
Several of those assists against the Bucks came thanks to good shot-making; Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and James Jones all sank contested threes off of Delly passes. Still, Dellavedova is putting guys in favorable situations. Even if his passes aren’t leading to uncontested dunks, he’s giving teammates chances to shoot, drive, or keep the ball moving. Since he’s often the least threatening player on the court, keeping the machine moving is useful. (He seems to be growing more confident as well. His last pass to Varejao at the 1:17 mark, an unusually fancy behind the back job, doesn’t seem like the sort that he would have made last year.)
He won’t be confused for John Stockton anytime soon, but Dellavedova has become a better passer qualitatively and quantitatively. He’ll be relegated to backup duty once the Cavs are healthy, assuming they are at some point. In the meantime, he’s getting more time running the offense with the starters and maintaining his wombat-like intensity on defense.1 There are worse things in the world than a backup building upon his Finals experience with some more garden variety regular-season run.
His offensive game may never be pretty, but it is increasingly effective
His offensive game may never be pretty, but it is increasingly effective
As of Tuesday morning, Dellavedova had an assist ratio of 40.9, highest in the league among players averaging 20-plus minutes and who have played at least 10 games.2 That number would have led the the entire league last season as well. Delly’s 2015-16 figure is a bump up from his 34.7 rate of 2014-15, which itself was top 10 among guards. Despite shooting poorly, he has provided positives for the offense.
Delly’s assist percentage is a healthy 32.2 this year; i.e., he assists on nearly a third of all Cavs baskets when he’s on the floor.3 To offer some context, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul were the top three in this category last season, each with an assist percentage of at least 43.0. Delly isn’t in that stratosphere, but he’s currently ranked above starters like Kyle Lowry and that Curry guy in California. Dellavedova assisted on less than a quarter of Cavs’ baskets when he was on the floor last year.
The bump up in Dellavedova’s numbers likely speaks to the Cavs’ improved ball movement, and he surely benefits from the star teammates he often shares the court with — a pass from Delly to LeBron James or Kevin Love is more likely to result in an assist than the other way around. It would be no surprise if his stats get less gaudy as the season goes on. He’ll play and have the ball less as the Cavs backcourt becomes more able-bodied, and some regression is bound to rear its head. For now, at least, it’s tough to deny that he is putting his teammates in positions to succeed.
This, for instance, is a basic pass, but it leads to a beautiful sequence. Delly bounces a pass through a double team to LeBron in the post, setting off a LeBron to Andy to Love to J.R. string that results in a wide-open three. J.R. misses the shot, but Love digs through the scrambling Bucks to grab the offensive rebound, score the bucket, and convert a three-point play.
Dellavedova is doing more without taking possessions away from the Cavs’ stars. His usage rate4 is still mighty low at 14.2 percent, a minor increase from his 12.7 rate last year. That is one of the lowest figures on the team, tied with Anderson Varejao and Richard Jefferson and ahead of Tristan Thompson. This suggests that Delly is maximizing his relatively limited opportunities. He’s turning the ball over at the same rate he did last year (about 10 times per 100 possessions, a reasonable number) while getting more helpers, thus his assist-to-turnover ratio is increasing — it’s over 4-to-1, easily the best on the Cavs and tops in the entire league.
Value these statistics as you will. Maybe they say more about the passees than the passer. But the numbers seem to confirm what we’re seeing out of Delly on the court.
He’s adding bits of nuance to his game, a necessary adjustment now that the basketballing world is aware of his unstoppable partnership with Tristan Thompson. The Warriors took the Delly-to-Tristan lob away in the Finals, and other teams took note. Foes are now more likely to stick to Thompson rolling down the lane, forcing Dellavedova into tricky floaters or kick-out passes. To accommodate, we’re seeing more than headlong sprints into defenders when he drives into the lane. He’s mixing in feints and hesitation moves to keep big men guessing.
Dellavedova’s star may never rise to the heights it did after Games 2 and 3 against the Warriors. He may be nearing his NBA peak as a caretaking backup point guard. There’s no problem with that, especially not on this team. A slightly plus-sized point who plays defense, moves the ball, makes some threes, and doesn’t try to do too much isn’t a diamond, but it’s a valuable commodity nonetheless. If he keeps getting better as the Cavs get healthier, that’s just gravy.
- Seven different four-man Cavs lineups featuring Delly (that have played at least 50 minutes together) are allowing fewer than 90 points per 100 possessions, a superb figure. [↩]
- Assist ratio: the number of assists a player averages per 100 possessions. [↩]
- Assist percentage: the percent of teammates’ field goals he assists while on the court. [↩]
- The percentage of possessions that end with him taking a shot, committing a turnover, or some sort of foul. [↩]
2 Comments
I’m hoping he can find his shot because he’s had a tough time on anything other then drives. That’s being greedy though. Otherwise everything Delly is doing has been great.
he is shooting 42% from 3 again, He is probably going to be top 10-15 players again. And top 4 again A:TO ratio. He is shooting 88+% from FT line. He could do with a hefty mid range game. But really he is putting up great numbers. All while being the biggest intangibles guy