The Point Four-ward: The Point’s the Point

Four points I’m thinking about the Cleveland Cavaliers…

1.) The champagne bubbles have fizzled out, all the confetti has been swept up, and J.R. Smith has finally resumed wearing a shirt… well, presumedly. While Cavs fans continue to bask in the championship afterglow, though, it’s time for the Cavs front office to get back to work.

David Griffin has already defined his basic strategy for the off-season. In an interview with ESPN Radio, Griffin said, quite simply, “We… intend to keep this group together and see what we’re capable of.” After off-seasons past, where the drama surrounding the Cavs was enough to win a Tony Award (for Best Play, of course… for as good of a roller coaster as the Cavs have been the last couple years, they’re not beating Hamilton), hearing these words from the Cavs General Manager had to be good news for fans and players alike.

Of course, it’s easy to say that you intend to keep this group together… and damn near impossible to do. Even if the Cavs re-sign Smith and Richard Jefferson and the bulk of the championship rotation returns, there will be some changes. Even though Channing Frye saw little time in the Finals, he was a key contributor throughout the Eastern Conference leg of the playoffs and solidified his place as the team’s third big man. That means Timofey Mozgov is unlikely to return. Dahntay Jones ended up being a fantastic last-day-of-the-season pickup by the Cavs, but the Cavs will likely try to use any minutes he’d receive to develop Jordan McRae, whose team option for just under $1 million the Cavs picked up yesterday.

2.) When discussing which of the Cavs key free agents is most likely to move on, one name keeps coming up: back-up point guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Last year, the Cavs opted to save a little on their luxury tax hit by giving Delly a modest raise (to $1.34 million) but also allowing him to become a restricted free agent this year. Dellavedova capitalized by having a stellar regular season, in which he, as a back-up, outplayed many teams’ starting point guards.

For the Cavs, though, it’s not like Dellavedova will be unseating Kyrie Irving for starting duties anytime soon. Being able to bring Delly off the bench was a huge luxury for this team. As Griffin and team owner Dan Gilbert look at a payroll that will once again be well over the luxury tax limit, there’s the very real possibility that some team offers Delly a deal that would make that luxury too expensive for even Gilbert to rationalize.

What is Dellavedova’s worth on the open market? ESPN.com’s Jeremias Engelmann put it in perspective. He wrote:

[D]uring the regular season, the Cavs played better with Dellavedova on the court than they did with Irving. The difference wasn’t small, either. Once we adjust for strength of teammates, Dellavedova’s units were about 10 points better per 100 possessions.

The Cavs’ offense didn’t miss a beat with Dellavedova, and they defended significantly better. The reason? Irving often forgets defensive assignments and shows an overall disinterest in playing defense, while Dellavedova haunts his opponents over the entire length of the court. Although Dellavedova doesn’t have Irving’s elite handle, he records more assists. He’s also a capable 3-point shooter and connected on more than 40 percent of his attempts. Thanks to a low turnover rate, Dellavedova sports a superior assist-to-turnover ratio (almost 3).

Obviously, Irving is the more talented overall player — and among the NBA’s elite when he’s sufficiently motivated and locked in. He’s the one you’d want in crunch time against good defensive teams when shot creation is difficult. In almost any other situation, however, we’d go with Dellavedova, especially once you look at their respective salaries.

Last summer, Dellavedova signed a $1.2 million contract for a single season. Given his stellar plus-minus numbers, there should be no doubt that he is worth that many times over.

3.) Which brings us to the player Gilbert just paid $2.4 million for the right to draft in the second round. Any projection of Kay Felder‘s future with the team should be taken with a healthy dose of doubt. But, just a few hours after writing this…

Fringe benefit of your team being #NBAChamps… not having to talk yourself into the rotational relevance of a pick in the late-20s. #Cavs

— Robert Attenweiler (@Cadavalier) June 23, 2016

… I was now talking myself into the rotational relevance of the 54th overall pick… who just happens to be 5-9.

But, hey, talking yourself into things is what the off-season is all about, so here we go:

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst characterized the drafting of Felder as a “total Dan Gilbert move” on his “Hey, Windy” podcast this weekend. He meant that Felder played for Oakland University — which is located in Rochester, Michigan, right outside of Detroit — so, the Cavaliers owner, a Detroit resident himself, was well aware of Felder and may have fallen in love with this exciting, play-making guard, who averaged 24.4 points and 9.3 assists per game this past season.

It has also been reported that Cavs scout Brandon Weems, who was an assistant coach at Oakland, and maybe even James himself were big proponents of drafting Felder. So, it seems like Felder has his share of fans within the organization, which never hurts.

But, even if Mo Williams is healthy enough to back-up Irving this year, does Felder have what it takes to make this team and contribute?

DraftExpress does a great job of breaking down Felder’s strengths and weaknesses. When discussing his strengths, you’ll notice that they compare moves that Felder makes now to moves that Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas — 5-9 like Felder — has had success with in the pros.

Both Thomas and Nate Robinson (another Felder comp, based on Felder’s outstanding athleticism) found success in the league early on in their careers and that makes some sense. These guys have been training to succeed against taller, longer competition all their lives. It takes a special sub-6-foot guard to make a mark in this league the way Thomas has, though, and Felder has yet to face any real NBA competition.

4.) Among the weaknesses DraftExpress listed, the one that stood out most glaringly was Felder’s lack of length. He seemed invisible on the court at times, with taller players passing and shooting over Felder with ease.

That may seem like an obvious problem given his height, but all 5-9 players are not created equal. While some of Felder’s measureables are encouraging (his 44″ max vertical, for instance), his standing vertical of 7-4.5 feet is a full four inches shorter than Thomas’s. While his wingspan is actually an inch better than Thomas’s, his ability to take up enough space to be disruptive on the defensive end will continue to be a question. In fact, when looking at the NBA’s best players under 6-feet, Felder could stack up more in line with the likes Shane Larkin and J.J. Barea, both shorter guards without the length to make up for their height (and, maybe even then, only if the Cavs are lucky).

Felder’s college coach admitted that they often hid Felder on defense because of the offensive load they expected him to carry. Since then, Felder has worked hard to dispel the notion that he can’t play D. In fact, DraftExpress’s Jonathan Givony wrote this about Felder’s performance at the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago:

Felder continued to play strong defense, which is notable as we previously mentioned due to his lack of size and the often average intensity level he displayed on that end in college. He did a nice job of harassing Melo Trimble this time, doing a great job of keeping the ball contained while using his body well to not get overpowered, and finishing the Combine with six steals in just 47 minutes.

The Cavs will be staring at a big, fat hole on their roster if they let Dellavedova walk. They shouldn’t bank on Felder filling that hole, but Felder will have a shot starting in two weeks at the Las Vegas Summer League. And I, for one, can’t wait to see how the former Oakland Golden Grizzly plays.