Milwaukee Bucks: Can Matthew Dellavedova regain his shooting touch?

After struggling with his overall efficiency since coming to the Milwaukee Bucks more than two years ago, can Matthew Dellavedova turn his shooting troubles around in his third season with the team?

At this point in his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks, Matthew Dellavedova is looking to salvage all that he can in what’s left of his stay in the Cream City.

Very little has gone the way that the Australian guard likely envisioned things would go when he minted a four year, $38 million deal back on the opening day of free agency in July of 2016.

Granted, injuries have struck Delly for great lengths such as it did last season when he only made 38 regular season appearances after suffering from left knee tendinitis as well as picking up a severely sprained ankle over the course of the campaign.

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But outside of being a reliable playmaker when called upon as my co-site expert Adam McGee wrote about last month, Delly’s production across most areas of the game have fallen well below the mark over his first two seasons with the Bucks.

Now with his role firmly standing as the third point guard on the team’s depth chart behind both Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe, expectations surrounding the need for the 27-year-old to perform come in on a much smaller scale than in previous years.

As a result, there’s no question the former Gael will have to scrap for all the playing opportunities that come his way in traditional Delly fashion, all of which will be given to him if he’s able to curb the trends that have defined his Bucks stint to this point.

The key to it all may be improving his ability to hit shots at a much more effective rate from all levels of the floor than we’ve been used to from him at this point, seeing that he’s posted a 50.1 true shooting percentage throughout his Bucks career.

From that standpoint, three-point range stands as a primary area of concern if Dellavedova is to be a useful contributor again. Delly has been serviceable in this regard as he’s knocked down 36.9 percent of his 293 three-point attempts since joining the Bucks, which falls just under his career three-point percentage (38.8 percent).

Delve deeper into that mark and it’s safe to feel somewhat encouraged by what Dellavedova could do under a more defined template to fire away from beyond the arc. That obviously speaks to Delly’s aptitude to be a three-point threat off of catch-and-shoot situations.

So far, the returns have been promising on that front, considering he drained 37 percent of his 173 three-point attempts off the catch throughout the 2016-17 season and hit 25 of his 62 looks that way (40.3 percent) during his abbreviated season last year, per NBA.com/stats.

Considering the supporting role he served alongside the legendary LeBron James during his days with the Cleveland Cavaliers and how much of that made him a natural fit next to the talents of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dellavedova’s three-point services will likely be put to greater use under new head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Beyond that, though, it’s hard to imagine what other offensive uses Dellavedova can viably serve going into this third season with the Bucks and his first for Coach Bud.

Dellavedova’s limitations creating efficient offense for himself in pick-and-roll situations as well as his subpar driving and finishing at the basket have stood out most often when plays broke down, drawing the heavy sighs of Bucks fans everywhere (for context, Dellavedova converted 37.7 percent of 53 driving field goal attempts last season, per Second Spectrum’s tracking data).

With the offensive overhaul that is sure to come under Budenholzer and his staff, the hope obviously is that the instances where Dellavedova is put in a position to have to squeeze the Bucks out of a jam occur far less than we’ve seen in recent memory.

While we wait for what the 2018-19 season holds for him and the Bucks overall, there’s very little to be gained for Dellavedova from looking back on how his stay in Milwaukee has gone to this point.

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For Dellavedova to rewrite the summary of his time as a Buck, an improved offensive impact will be crucial to making some headway in what’s left of his current contract.

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