The Wombat Returns
2015-07-28
Almost immediately on the heels of dealing Brendan Haywood’s Contract and Mike Miller (along with two future second round picks) to the Trailblazers for trade exceptions, the Cavs agreed to re-sign backup point guard, resident pest to opposing teams, and regional cult hero Matthew “The Wombat” Dellavedova.
According to ESPN, Delly, a restricted free agent, accepted the team’s qualifying offer and will return on a one-year deal worth approximately $1.2 million. And though initial reports suggested that the move would allow Delly will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, because he’s still in his first four years, the Cavs will still have the ability to match any offer he receives.
At the beginning of the off-season, Delly was said to be looking for a multi-year deal that started around $4 million. But given the Cavs’ cap situation, The Wombat decided to bet on himself with the QO, and let his play garner him a bigger payday next year. The question remains if he’ll get a chance to do so…
In his second season, Delly averaged 4.8 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range during the regular season. He also averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 assists in the postseason, punctuated by a memorable 19 points in a series-clinching win in Chicago in the second round and 20 points in the Cavs’ Game 3 win over Golden State to go up 2-1 in The Finals. His heroics earned him praise from his teammates and adoration from Cavs fans.
Delly’s play earned him respect from The King
He also earned disdain and frustration from his opponents, as he became an expert in infuriation tactics, getting both Taj Gibson and Al Horford thrown out of games in successive series, inadvertently taking out Kyle Korver’s ankle, and nearly smothering MVP Steph Curry in the first three games of The Finals.
Yeah, I know it’s the wrong number, but it’s still awesome…
However, his role as Kyrie’s primary backup next season will be in question, with the Cavs also signing Mo Williams as a free agent this summer. Though Mo will probably see time at shooting guard as well, there will undoubtedly be fewer minutes to go around.
With more limited time on the court, there may be less buzz surrounding Delly next year unless he’s able to improve his game on the offensive side of the ball. He will seemingly have plenty of time to work on his game as he prepares to compete for his home country of Australia in the FIBA Oceania Championship next month. Here’s hoping he continues to develop his spot up three point shooting, and his combo teardrop/lob shot.
Still, it’s good to have at least one more year of The Wombat, and his litany of inspired t-shirts…
When he’s on, I think of Delly as being a miniature Andy, (when Andy is at his best.)
Anti-graceful, hyper-annoying to opponents
So with TT and JR, the rotation is looking like: Starters: Kyrie, Shump, LeBron, Love, Moz Rest of rotation: TT, JR, Mo Situational/Part-time rotation: Delly, RJ, extra wing/shooter Deep bench: JJ, 4th big man, Andy, Joe Harris That extra wing/shooter will probably be good enough to crack the rotation. Dorell Wright maybe? If not, maybe Sir’Dominic (or some other camp body) wins that spot to start the season and would be at the end of the bench. Hopefully he shows some flashes in Canton/garbage time and we can use him and/or Joe Harris as sweeteners in a mid-season trade. In… Read more »
1.2 M is exactly what you pay your 10th-12th man.
I hear the Nuggets are looking for a new GM. You are certainly on the short list.
are you referring to COLS OR DELLY ( HA-HA )
Where’s COLS to complain about how terrible Delly is and what a rip-off $1.2 million is for a 3rd string point guard? Come on Troll! Get out from under your bridge!
“He’s fat and he sucks”…..subbing for Cols this morning.
How about some speculation on who the Cavs might want with their $10.5M TPE? I know its way too early and it will be dependent on how things are going come the trade deadline…but last year our TPE turned into Mozzy!
True, and we were hearing rumors about Mozzy since before the season began.
Just before the trade deadline in the bitterness of the Cleveland winter, GM LeBron reminisces about the magnificent, sunny banana boat rendezvous and pulls the trigger to bring DWade to CLE…
Haha! Wouldn’t that be something. But I believe the TPE has to be part of a “trade” and I would be very surprised if Riley let that happen. On the other hand we have a year to use it, so a lot could change!
Awwwww noooooooooooooooooo!!!! Why Lebron, whyyyy???? Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!
“Are you doing Space jam 2???”
“Maybe…..”
Because the first one didn’t suck enough.
He’ll get opportunities. Both Kyrie and Mo have injury histories. I don’t see either one of them 100% perfect attendance in all the regular season games. I do expect to see some drama down the road with Mo. He has had some history with previous teams. Altercation with Vinny DelNegro. Demanding that he should be starter in 2013 on Jazz. Being called polarizing when on Blazers team because of his high turn overs and lousy defense. You guys thought Dion was too much on twitter? Mo is on twitter much more and there isn’t any filters. It will be interesting.
Mo is in the best possible situation he could find himself in at this point of his career. I don’t see him being a problem…
Okay this Q&A is lame. I’m done posting.
LOL. It was good while it lasted.
Wait! You missed the best one…
Can’t be true! Must have been an impostor!
ESPN momentarily has a sad over this, but will quickly move past and ignore it.
@Seinfeld2000: @kingjames whats ur favorite epsode of seinfeld
@KingJames: @Seinfeld2000 Aww man it’s impossible to say 1 favorite. I’m actually watching it now as I speak to you guys. Haha
@kylepronick2: @KingJames how bad does it feel losing all the time?
@KingJames: @kylepronick2 Not sure cause I do more winning than losing my friend
LeBron is doing a Twitter Q&A right now. Here’s sow of his thoughts:
@YrNGiovanni: @KingJames do u think @RealTristan13 will resign???
@KingJames: @YrNGiovanni @RealTristan13 Yeah of course he will. Means way too much to our team success!
@mfadel: @KingJames outside of Cleveland, which city do you love playing in the most? #AskTheKing
@KingJames: @mfadel LA,NY,Chi,Bos,GS
He didn’t love playing in Miami?
Even though this is a pretty Cavs friendly contract for next season, I’m worried about all the fatty meals Delly will be devouring with that money. /s
This made me laugh…
Yes… this post is full of win!
Great Delly shirts!
With any luck, there will be plentiful garbage time this year, and Delly will be there! I don’t know that his minutes will really drop much overall.
Delly is tough as nails and he’ll see his moments this year – count on it!
I FEEL FOR YOU SASHA KAUN!!! Come join the party!
That’s a good point about the garbage time, Charlie… Gotta believe this team will be much stronger out of the gate (barring any slow starts for KLove and Kyrie from their injuries)…
Kyrie may take it easy next year, in the first few months, so Mo & Delly may see a lot of action.
Shumpert may see more point duty despite fan critiques of his performance at that position.
———-
Sasha? They seem to be taking one contract, one issue at a time.
There is still plenty of time to sign him.
I hope they do.
My guess is that it is happening in slow motion. No one is talking, so no rumors are out there.
any latest rumors on the cavs pursuing SAHSA KAUN ——WAS A POPULAR RUMOR FOR ABOUT A WEEK—SEEMS TO HAVE DIED ?
My guess is that it is happening in slow motion. No one is talking, so no rumors are out there.
I think some of these recent moves will only make it easier for them to bring Kaun over if they want to do it. Seems like it would make sense since he reportedly wants to come and the Cavs could use a replacement big man (who can actually play) to take Perk’s place…
The best part about the Delly signing is that the Cavs signed him at the salary they wanted, as opposed to overpaying given Delly’s role. 1.2 million is definitely a steal for what Delly does. 4 million is too expensive. If Delly shoots that floater @42-45% and makes better decisions off the PnR… then 4 million next year is reasonable. I’m very happy the Cavs kept Delly in the fold. He’s 24/25, a great teammate with no ego to cause problems… and he’s going into this season with what should be a ton of confidence. I agree with Nate, I… Read more »
The longer the TT negotiations drag on, the more I start to wonder if they won’t just take the QO and go for broke next year since TT will be an unrestricted FA… Hope I’m wrong…
Actually you may be more right than you know… the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that TT is taking that QO. The Cavs now are probably less willing to pay now that almost all of the teams have spent their cap room. TT & Klutch would look foolish taking a less lucrative offer than the ones previously reported. If TT took the QO, the Cavs would be happy because they get to keep their guy at a cheap(er) rate. They may take the risk of FA with TT knowing that they can offer the most… Read more »
The repeater tax would come into play… plus Mozzy is an UFA.
Isn’t the repeater tax in play no matter whether they sign TT this year or next? As for Mozerati… I’ll be interested to see what they sign him to… he’ll be 30 and getting older and a lot more expensive. On the other hand, I don’t think Mozerati has the wear and tear on him that other big men do. I’m hoping he has a loyalty to the Cavs and Blatt for giving him his big break, so perhaps a hometown discount may be in play. I absolutely love Mozerati… but I fear that if they sign TT to an… Read more »
BTW, I forgot to say thanks for your post, coolshah8. You definitely raise good points re: TT!
My thinking is that if they sign TT for more as an UFA the repeater tax would be even higher than if we got him signed to a multi-year, “relatively” cheaper contract this year. If I were TT, I’d wanna get locked up now – his value is higher right now based on our fresh memory of his playoff performance. His stats will reflect his return to the bench, especially with a more efficient and hopefully healthy Kevin Love. Mozzy is a much better rim protector though and was really the turning point in our defense/season when we got him… Read more »
Re: repeater tax… I’m sure you’re correct. Only question would be to what degree is the difference in taxes? Re: TT, I’d agree… his value is maximized right now. However, if he does wish to sign now, he’s lost leverage in the sense that only 2 or 3 teams have the cap space to offer a max deal. This fact would give credence to EG’s point that it seems like TT could just do the QO and gamble on himself for one more year and cash in when everyone is flush with cash next year. I’d agree, KLove’s increasing effectiveness… Read more »
I went into some of this stuff in a fanpost over at FTS if you want to wade into cap minutiae: http://www.fearthesword.com/2015/7/21/9009283/why-are-the-cavs-free-agent-negotiations-taking-so-long It turns out the repeater tax might not be as bad given the craziness of the cap jump we’re expecting. TT signing a deal next year as a UFA could actually be better long term for the tax bill. Of course, that does assume that we take something back from the Haywood thing, we’ll see if that happens. But even without Haywood that may be true. The basic gist is that the repeater tax functions basically as your… Read more »
Excellent info HC!!! Wow, these numbers suggest that it would be in the Cavs’ interest to let TT sign the QO if they don’t get TT to sign at their number this year. The next best move seems to be signing TT to a short term contract to allow him to get paid somewhat now and reach the market earlier. The only scenario which seems to be a detriment to both parties is signing TT to a long term contract this year? The Cavs would have to pay ridiculous taxes, and TT wouldn’t touch the market for a long time… Read more »
Which is likely why negotiations are taking so damn long. The issue is that TT has little leverage, but has a major incentive to sign now, his PT might decrease, he might get injured…and the Cavs have major incentives not to sign him now. I need to redo this with the new trade exceptions the Cavs did. But it probably won’t change too dramatically, especially if they end up using the trade exceptions.
Glad you liked it!
Also, I think the best deal for everyone might be a 3 year ~$35m for TT ($11m starting salary) with the 3rd year a player option. Nice risk/reward ratio for both parties. Cavs get him for two years and save a lot of tax money, TT gets a reasonable guarantee and becomes an unrestricted FA in 2017-18 when he will be hitting his prime and when there will be tons of teams with cap space to drive up his price. Cavs can then bring him back, but he’ll probably end up making as much or more than Kyrie and possibly… Read more »
Funny you mentioned that 3/35 deal… because it’s my opinion that 12million is the appropriate value for TT’s game, all things considered. I’m not trying to knock him, I love TT’s personality, he doesn’t complain, he’s a positive guy. I just don’t think that he should be paid so close to a Kyrie or Love.
If TT develops a back to the basket game and improves as a rim protector, then I think it’s legit that he asks for max money. Until then, he should be paid like the super-sub/6th man/energy guy that he is.
What Mo also allows the Cavs to do is go small for longer stretches of the game, with Kyrie/Mo, Delly, Shump, LeBron, and the big man of the Cavs choice, with J.R. and Jefferson backing up the wings. We already talked about Delly’s ability from the right corner, and Jefferson’s ability from the left corner. Mo is best from the top of the Key, J.R.’s is best from the left wing and left corner, and Kyrie is great from everywhere outside. This gives the Cavs superior floor spacing, and allows either LeBron or a guard to handle in the pick… Read more »
Do you think there’s a particular reason Kyrie and Delly haven’t been able to mesh well at all? First Dion, now Shump, does Delly need a bigger backcourt partner? Whether or not he gets official PG duties, is he always going to play better matched up against PG’s than SG’s on both ends?
I don’t know if they haven’t. I think the lack of depth at point guard last year kept them from playing together much. There was only one regular season lineup that got much run with both of them in it, the Delly, Irving, James, Love, Thompson lineup. It was the Cavs’ No. 4 ranked lineup at +31.9 per a hundred possessions. It only played 52 mintues . The numbers are similarly thin from the previous season. Fact is, they just didn’t share the floor much. I’d like to see them do it a little more. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2015/lineups/#lineups-5-man::13 In looking at the… Read more »
It’s unbelievable that they dropped from +10.6 to -5.9 when Lebron left the court. I really hope Love’s nagging injuries (and shoulder) heal fully and he can look like the best player on the court more often when Bron sits.
Gotta believe that KLove will be better this year… much like Bosh was much better in Miami in year two of LBJ being there…
I think that the plan is to have Delly in case of emergency. Mo may not be better at defense than Delly, but his offensive creativity and playmaking abilities should keep Delly on the bench more this season….
GREAT JOB EVIL ( AS USUAL ) —I WILL TAKE 1 OF EACH SHIRT ——BELIEVE EACH TEAM WILL PRESENT DIFFERENT PLAYING TIME FOR MO / DELLY—ALSO IT WILL ALLOW MO TO REST PERIODIACLLY DURING THE SEASON —-PLUS DELLY KNOWS HIS PERFORMANCE DURING THE SEASON IS GOING TO DICTATE HIS OFF SEASON CONTRACT ——OPPOSING PLAYERS ” BEWARE OF THE WOMBAT ” !!!—-HE IS HUNGRY
Ha! There were literally dozens of shirts to pick from, so I tried to post a few that I hadn’t seen before…
I actually think we’ll see a fair number of lineups with both of them. Delly does better with creators and Mo definitely qualifies.
I think this is an accurate assessment. I could see them both playing well off of each other…
I could actually see Blatt favoring Delly over Mo next season or maybe in the post season. At least with certain line ups. Blatt loves Delly and Mo isn’t known as a great defender. No disrespect to Mo, he’s much more creative and skilled offensively than Delly. But if they don’t need Mo’s shot creation and only spacing then Delly could be a better option. I’m glad we have both Mo and Delly though.