NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers almost waived Matthew Dellavedova

The Cleveland Cavaliers are winning the NBA Finals thanks in large part to a guy they almost released in 2013 — Matthew Dellavedova.

Next: Toughest NBA Teams Of All-Time

Matthew Dellavedova went from a guy no one had heard of to someone who the entire NBA is talking about as a key piece of the Cavaliers winning the NBA Finals this year. To say it’s been a meteoric rise for Dellavedova is to understate his rise this year, but it was a rise that almost didn’t take place — at least, not with the Cavaliers.

According to Cavaliers insider and LeBron James beat writer/body guard Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, there were some in the Clevland front office that wanted to waive Matthew Dellavedova in 2013 while the team was in training camp.

While it seems like a crime against the basketball gods at the moment, no one can be faulted for wanting to waive Dellavedova before the 2013-14 season started. He wasn’t even that significant against opponents for most of the 2014-15 season, but he’s been critically important to the Cavaliers amassing a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

There’s no saying that Delly is the absolute key to the Cavaliers winning a title, as Kyrie Irving being healthy wouldn’t make this such a special series for the young Australian guard. But he’s doing his job and then some, which is more than what was expected out of him by the national media.

It may be a case of the exceptions that were criminally low being so fantastically surpassed that is making Matthew Dellavedova seem like a superstar, but the fact of the matter is he’s the pulse of the Cavaliers right now. Cleveland needs Dellavedova to win a title, and that’s something you didn’t know you’d be saving back in training camp two years ago.

Next: 20 Richest NBA Players of All-Time

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers