The young stars on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster have shown huge signs of growth and improvement as of late, and it seems one player at the center of that growth is veteran point guard Matthew Dellavedova.
“He’s been just awesome since he’s gotten here,” Larry Nance Jr. said of the Australian national. “Just being a veteran presence and somebody we can all look to as this is how you should play. Night in and night out giving it his all, as unselfish as you can possibly ask for. He’s been the ultimate professional. So hopefully we’ve got Collin (Sexton), Cedi (Osman), Marquese (Chriss), our young guys are kind of taking note of how he handles himself.”
It’s not just Nance who feels that way. Osman also commented on what it has meant to have Dellavedova on the court late in games.
“It’s great to have Delly in those moments,” Osman told Cleveland.com. “He helps keep us together, keeps us from speeding up.”
Sexton too has remarked on the value Dellavedova brings. It is interesting to note that while Sexton was reportedly reluctant to take lessons from former teammate George Hill earlier this season, he seems more than willing to learn from Delly’s example.
“When you’re out there that’s when you start learning, especially certain plays in crunch time that you can go to,” Sexton said. “I feel like with him out there we both feed off each other.”
Fans celebrated when Dellavedova was traded to Cleveland back in December. Initially, it was simply because of the place he holds in the hearts of all Cavs fans for being a member of the 2016 championship roster.
Now, it seems like Dellavedova has as much to do with Cavs’ future as he did with the Cavs’ past.
