Cavaliers bring Dellavedova home-Trade with Bucks

After a two year and a little more absence, Matthew Dellavedova is coming back to Cleveland as part of the Cavaliers trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards.

The Cavaliers are adding Dellavedova along with center John Henson along with the Bucks first and second round picks in 2021 and Washington's 2022 second rounder.

Cleveland will be sending veteran guard George Hill to the Bucks and forward Sam Dekker to the Wizards, along with returning the Wizards 2011 second rounder that was obtained in a previous trade.

Matthew Dellavedova was a tremendously popular player in his previous stint with the Cavaliers and at 28 could still have some good basketball left in him.
Delly has seen his playing time reduced each of his three seasons in Milwaukee moving with 26 minutes a game to 18 to a mere eight minutes a night with the Bucks this season and averaging 1.7 points and 2 assists a game in that time.
The loss of playing time does make you wonder a bit, but in a deal that seemed to be made mainly to create cap space by moving George Hill and add draft picks down the road, the chance is minimal and bringing back a popular player never hurts in the eyes of the fans.
Dellavedova is under contract next year at 9.6 million.

Henson is a 6'11 power forward that underwent wrist surgery last week.
The 27 year old from North Carolina was averaging five points and five rebounds this season before the injury.

George Hill was making twenty million for the season and veteran leadership with ten points and just under three assists a night certainly wasn't worth all that.
Just adding cap flexibility to perhaps make more deals at the deadline makes this a good deal for the Cavaliers and Hill is a player better suited to be a role player on a good team than a stalwart on a mediocre one, especially at the money that he is making this season.

Sam Dekker moves to Washington (Washington sent Jason Smith to the Bucks in the trade) for his third team in 2018.
Dekker was around his career averages of six points and two rebounds, his numbers were similar to that of John Henson and likely included in the deal in order to make the salaries match up.

Anytime that you are able to add a future first and a second rounder (even if it could be as late as 2024 before the picks could be used) and save over ten million dollars in cap space, it's a good move.
It's even better when you could even move John Henson at the trade deadline for some more assets and add a popular player like Matthew Dellavedova as well.
Adding players with longer contracts to add future picks is smart and the type of move that a rebuilding team needs to make more of- Good job.

Random Thoughts

Time for a few random thoughts.

The Giants have signed their first rounder in Heliot Ramos with a slot value bonus of 3.1 million, and the Pirates signed Shane Baz fairly quickly to a slightly over slot bonus of 4.1 million,but the Indians have yet to sign Quentin Holmes,their first pick (2nd round) as of now.

Ramos was expected to be a relatively easy sign,but Baz was reported to be a tougher sell on the Pirates with a strong commitment to TCU and I'm a little surprised that it took just 800,000 over slot to land Baz and to do so well before the signing deadline.
Good for the Pirates for landing Baz,who was regarded as the hardest thrower among high school pitchers in the draft.
I haven't heard any rumors on Holmes and the Indians coming to an agreement or not.
Holmes has a college commitment to Mississippi State.

I'm not against the Houston Rockets move to challenge the Golden State Warriors by obtaining Chris Paul from the Clippers for a collection of odd parts and a first round draft pick,but as someone that has liked Chris Paul since his Wake Forest days,I have to question Paul for wanting to leave just two years after his meeting that ended with Paul,Blake Griffin (soon to be leaving as well) and others begging DeAndre Jordan to stay in Los Angeles rather than stick with an agreed to,but not signed contract with Dallas.
For the Rockets-I still think they are one player away from seriously pushing the Warriors even with Paul,while the Clippers may be at the end of their modest fringe contender status.
Unless the hated Sam Dekker can do as well on the court as well as he did in his love life...

Was asked recently about two recurring features on the blog and if they will be returning.
On the signing front will be around on an occasional basis,but especially as part of the road trip features and the PPM will be back again in late August with the start of the college season.
Who will be this years "host"? I have a few candidates in mind.
Previous hosts have been Heather Cox (ESPN now NBC),Jessica Korda (LPGA),Christi Paul (CNN) and last year Molly McGrath (ESPN) for two months before being replaced by Legate Damar of Star Trek fame.

Also was asked my opinion on the Tim Tebow promotion.
I think it's a joke.
Nothing wrong with minor league baseball being entertaining and I get that fans want to come out and meet Tebow,but for a 29 year old batting .220 in the SAL to get a promotion,couldn't teams draw a big house for a Tebow appearance rather than this exhibition on the field?
Tebow has handled this situation with grace,but he has to know what this truly is...

Wrapping up with thoughts on the release of Cubs catcher Miguel Montero one night after throwing pitcher Jake Arrietta under the bus for the Washington Nationals stealing seven bases against the battery Tuesday night.
Do I feel that Montero was totally wrong?
No,but you have to know your place in the pecking order and platooning catcher ranks far below top of the rotation pitcher.
Sometimes,people need to realize that they might not be wrong,but the prudent thing is try to grit your way through without making it easy for the team/employer to move you alone...