The Cleveland Cavaliers are really missing Matthew Dellavedova

When Matthew Dellavedova signed with the Bucks last summer, the Cavaliers essentially thanked him for his services and bid the Australian guard adieu. Dellavedova was a restricted free agent and the Cavaliers could’ve matched Milwaukee’s four-year, $38 million deal. Yet they chose not to and seemed to show little interest in doing so, mainly because of the accompanying price tag.

If there were any doubts that Dellavedova wasn’t going to return to Cleveland, LeBron James sealed the deal by tweeting out his congratulations to his former teammate.

Dellavedova leaving Cleveland didn’t mean much on the surface, especially since he was a role player off the bench. Although Dellavedova played well for the Cavaliers during the regular season, Tyronn Lue shrunk his rotations once the Finals were in full swing and his role in last year’s epic comeback was quite minimal. Dellavedova’s absence was not that noticeable during this regular season as the Cavaliers were able to persevere quite well with an evolving bench unit that eventually had Deron Williams playing backup point.

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While that may have worked during the regular season and in the playoffs, though, it hasn’t been the case during the 2017 NBA Finals.

Cleveland’s bench has largely been missing in action. The 36-year-old Richard Jefferson has been the best player off the bench for the Cavaliers. Jefferson is a fine player but Kyle Korver, Iman Shumpert and Williams aren’t providing anything of significance from them so far in the Finals.

Korver’s usually accurate 3-point shooting hasn’t been on point and his lack of athleticism is betraying him against the Warriors. Similarly, Williams isn’t making a difference due to his waning athleticism. This directly corresponds to Williams’ impact on the defensive end, which has been sub-par. Williams has also failed to score a single point in the close to 33 minutes he’s played in the Finals.

Considering James’ openly campaigning to add a playmaker off the bench for more than half of the regular season, Williams’ failure to make an impact in this series is quite troubling for the Cavaliers. Significant ankle injuries have robbed Williams of his once great potential. He is now a fine passer and even has his moments scoring from time to time. But while Williams is perhaps an upgrade offensively over Dellavedova, he simply doesn’t provide the same type of effort and energy on the defensive end.

In essence, this is what has been missing for the Cavaliers against the Warriors. They have no spark plug off the bench who can step in and play with a reserve of energy that allows them to make an impact. These type of players can have their drawbacks, but energy players also can disrupt an opponent’s flow simply with their hustle and physicality. That’s what Dellavedova did for the Cavaliers, especially in the 2015 NBA Finals when he bothered Stephen Curry and the Warriors at times.

This is not to say Cleveland would be up 2-0 instead of down 0-2 if Dellavedova was still on the Cavaliers. It instead is to point to another: Cleveland’s bench, which was quite solid throughout the postseason, has not brought any energy or been able to exert any type of influence in the Finals. And while this isn’t groundbreaking analysis, the simple fact that the Cavaliers have had to rely so heavily on their starters due to the inefficiency of their bench is just one reason why both games have been so lopsided in Golden State’s favor.

The problem for Cleveland is they don’t have a player like Dellavedova that can enter the game and muck things up with his physical play and energy. Sure, this is basically describing Dahntay Jones, but let’s be real here, he’s not the solution. That’s why even though he can be a liability on offense, Shumpert may be Cleveland’s best bet at providing a spark. Shumpert has shown in the past that he can be a solid defender and has the ability to influence games with his hustle. He will still need to be in a limited role but if Shumpert can step up his effort defensively, it should benefit the Cavaliers.

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Ahead of Game 3, the Cavaliers have said that they don’t plan to slow down their game as they are going to stick with what got them to this point. It is a bold strategy since trying to play fast and shoot 3s hasn’t really been working for them, but if Shumpert and Cleveland’s bench steps up and provides some energy, perhaps the Cavaliers can avoid a 3-0 deficit. It may be their only hope against a seemingly unbeatable Warriors team.