Expected to be one of the most important free agent acquisitions made by the Milwaukee Bucks last summer, how did Matthew Dellavedova fare in his first season in the Cream City?
Having played a major role in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ title success in 2016 as an off ball point guard complement to LeBron James, it wasn’t hard to understand why the Milwaukee Bucks identified Matthew Dellavedova as a solid fit to pair alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With the Greek Freak having finished the 2015-16 season with a burst of exceptional play in a point forward role, and Dellavedova coming off the back of his second straight season shooting better than 40 percent from deep, there was reason for Bucks fans to be excited about how their new signing would mesh with the team’s existing core.
Unfortunately, the Bucks didn’t have Antetokounmpo initiate at anywhere close to the same rate in 2016-17, and Dellavedova struggled with his shot. The result has been Dellavedova’s fit looking much less seamless than it once did.
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Although there are a number of ways in which the Bucks didn’t exactly set Dellavedova up to perform to his best in his first season with the team, there’s a lot the player himself will have to adjust and ponder heading into the offseason.
In other less tangible ways, Dellavedova outperformed many expectations. Within the locker room at least the soundbites suggest he’s highly valued as a teammate.
It wasn’t the perfect start to the Australian’s time in Milwaukee, but there’s still reason to hope the 26-year-old can turn things around.
Let’s dig a little deeper to get the whole picture of Matthew Dellavedova’s 2016-17 season.
Next: The Good
The Best of Dellavedova
An obvious appeal to acquiring Dellavedova was his experience of contending for and winning a championship. As the Bucks try to develop their own winning culture, the importance of players with meaningful NBA experience is always going to be pivotal in readying the young players for the road ahead.
Experience doesn’t always naturally equate to leadership, though, and perhaps it was because he was coming from a team with so many obvious leaders that leadership wasn’t necessarily on the top of everyone’s list of what Dellavedova would offer the Bucks.
As the season progressed, the Australian’s leadership qualities became more obvious, though.
It became a regular feature of post-game interviews to hear mention of Dellavedova’s brand of leadership or communication on the floor, with the guard even taking on one of the roles of team captain during the postseason.
On the floor, Dellavedova’s leadership was also evident from the way in which he directed traffic. Although Milwaukee’s guard rotation is lacking in a number of departments, Delly’s ability to communicate and get his teammates to their spots is a valuable skill.
Lacking any kind of dynamic change of pace limits Dellavedova’s overall playmaking potential, but he fits the mold of a sensible floor general relatively well.
An area of strength for Bucks guards this season was taking care of the ball, and Dellavedova was no different. Matthew Dellavedova’s assist to turnover rating of 2.68 ranked 28th in the NBA among guards who played at least 10 minutes per game in 50 games or more. Malcolm Brogdon and Jason Terry also made the top-30.
Delly is never going to be a flashy playmaker or dominant scorer, but he does the kind of things you want a role playing guard to do for your team’s more skilled players.
Next: The Bad
The Worst of Dellavedova
For the most part, Dellavedova’s defense wasn’t what the Bucks had necessarily bought into, but there’s no question that the former Saint Mary’s Gael’s shooting was the biggest issue.
Other teams may have been able to forgive his shooting struggles somewhat, but for Milwaukee, Dellavedova was brought in — along with Mirza Teletovic — with the specific goal of adding a greater three-point threat to the Bucks’ arsenal.
It was the worst shooting season of Dellavedova’s four-year NBA career to date. Although he has had a worse mark than this year’s 39 percent from the field, 36.6 percent marked a new low for the Aussie from behind the arc.
Dellavedova’s reliable free-throw shooting (85.4 percent) was a redeeming factor, and the only reason why his true shooting percentage just managed to stay above 50 percent on the year.
While Dellavedova’s three-point shooting was a big issue, anyone who watched the Bucks regularly will know that his shooting struggles extended to inside the arc too.
In his time with the Cavaliers, Dellavedova was known for his efficient floater in the lane, but unfortunately in Milwaukee the results from one of Delly’s favorite shots was drastically more inconsistent.
For the most part, Dellavedova’s limitations were in line with what most would have expected when he signed in Milwaukee. The bigger problem would be that the team’s style of play and approach often emphasized those weaknesses beyond what had previously been shown in Cleveland.
Next: Game of the Season
Dellavedova’s Game of the Season
Before we get to the game in question, it’s worth noting that Dellavedova’s most recent game narrowly missed out on this title too. His Game 6 performance against the Toronto Raptors may not have been Dellavedova’s most eye-popping performance statistically, but he gave his team everything they needed from him when it mattered most.
Just edging out the Bucks’ last stand against the Raptors is a game from much earlier in the season. Dellavedova’s best game of the season came in a nine-point home win over the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 3.
Dellavedova had great success against the Nets throughout the season in matchups with both Jeremy Lin and Isaiah Whitehead, and on this occasion put up a season-high 18 points, along with six assists and two rebounds.
Delly did that by going 6-10 from the field and 6-6 from the free-throw line, even though he failed to make a triple in his 27 minutes of action.
If anything, the Bucks and Dellavedova would likely be much more satisfied with his first season with the team if he had been able to play against the lowly Brooklyn Nets for 82 games.
Dellavedova’s season averages from four games against the Nets read as a very impressive 12.8 points, 6.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 rebounds, to just 1.3 turnovers, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 50 percent from deep and 81.3 percent from the line.
Next: Moving Forward
Summer Focus and Final Grade
As Dellavedova noted in his exit interview on Friday, this summer represents a welcome change for him:
"“I don’t have any national team commitments this summer, so this summer has been circled on my calendar for a while to really be able to put in some good offseason work on my body.”"
Having been in the Finals for two straight years and following up Cleveland’s championship success with a deep run at the Olympics with Australia last summer, maybe enough hasn’t been made of just how much basketball Matthew Dellavedova has had to play in recent years.
Unless he’s superhuman, it would seem like common sense to suggest that Dellavedova could benefit not only from some rest, but also the opportunity to put some more focused work in on his game.
Over the course of the summer, Dellavedova needs to work on regaining the shooting touch which helped him to carve out a niche in the NBA to begin with. On top of that, now knowing that his role in Milwaukee is actually going to be different to what most originally believed, he needs to work on becoming a more accomplished and creative ball-handler.
For his first season with the Bucks, Delly could have been worse, but he certainly could have been a lot better too.
BTBP Final Grade: C-
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: Playoff Impact On Milwaukee’s Free Agents
Make sure you stick with us over the coming days and weeks as we review the rest of the Bucks’ seasons individually.