We all know that Delly can't create offense and can have a difficult time keeping guards in front of him, but he does have particular strengths and those strengths keep earning him playing time (in addition to necessity).
Defending the three
Defending against the three pointer: Opponents are shooting
29.2% from three against him, 4.5% LOWER than what they normally shoot, and overall 1.2% lower from all over the court. For comparison, here are what other players' numbers
against the three look like:
Roberson: 26.8% allowed,
9.2% lower than average compared to what those shooters he's faced normally shoot
MCW: 29.3% allowed,
6.4% lower than average
T. Allen: 30.3% allowed,
4.8% lower than average
Delly: 29.2% allowed, 4.5% lower than average
Middleton: 31.6% allowed, 4.0% lower than average
Bradley: 32.5% allowed,
2.9% lower than average
Beverley: 33.1% allowed,
2.0% lower than average
Kyrie: 34.3% allowed, .9% lower than average
Bledsoe: 34.6% allowed,
.5% lower than average
Iggy: 34.6% allowed,
.4% lower than average
D. Green: 35.6% allowed,
.3% lower than average
Wall: 34.8% allowed,
.4% higher than average
Rubio: 36.8% allowed,
.5% higher than average
Rondo: 35% allowed,
.8% higher than average
Dion: 36.7% allowed,
1.2% higher than average (though he's very good at defending the mid-range, 15-22ft)
Kwahi: 37.9% allowed,
2.9% higher than average
J. Nelson: 39% allowed,
4.5% higher than average (overall FG% defense is 2.4% higher than average allowed)
Rebounding
With Delly
off the court, the Cavs' defensive rebounding % is 73%, good for
25th in the league.
With Delly
on the court, the Cavs' defensive rebounding % is 76.7%, good for
5th in the league.
With Delly
off the court, the Cavs' offensive rebounding % is 26.6%, good for
10th in the league.
With Delly
on the court, the Cavs' offensive rebounding % is 28.4%, good for
2nd in the league.
With Delly
off the court, the Cavs' total rebounding % is 50.7%, good for
9th in the league.
With Delly
on the court, the Cavs' total rebounding % is 51.7%%, good for
4th in the league.
He does a really good job of getting a body on guards so that they don't get long rebounds, something I wish Kyrie (and when Dion was here) did more often. Our defensive rebounding numbers have been poor all year long and with a better effort from our perimeter guys and from KLove, our defensive numbers in the playoffs could be really, really stout.
Last year, with Delly on court, the Cavs' total rebounding was the best in the NBA, 2nd best defensively and 2nd best offensively. With him off the court, it was 6th defensively and 16th offensive.
To sum up, with the right players around him (i.e., James), he does his job and is a positive for us. He's not someone who is going to take over any game and we all wish he could create something offensively, but he doesn't deserve all the blame that he gets. Earlier in this thread I posted his numbers in 5 man lineups. Here's some numbers from 4 man lineups and one 5 man lineup, the best 5 man lineup in the NBA right now (yes, only 34 minutes, but used against 4-5 different teams).
M. Dellavedova | L. James | T. Mozgov | I. Shumpert | T. Thompson: +49 per 100 possessions, 34 minutes played.
With this lineup, we are making 15 more shots than the opponent per 100 possessions, shooting 15% better, shooting 25% better from three, grabbing 13% more offensive rebounds and 13% more defensive rebounds. Delly is a part of that.
M. Dellavedova | K. Irving | L. James | K. Love: +24.8 per 100, 68 total minutes played.
M. Dellavedova | L. James | I. Shumpert | T. Thompson: +24.3 per 100, 122 total minutes played.
M. Dellavedova | L. James | K. Love | T. Thompson: +15.6 per 100, 196 total minutes played
M. Dellavedova | K. Irving | L. James | T. Thompson: +12.9 per 100, 81 total minutes played
M. Dellavedova | L. James | S. Marion | T. Thompson: +6.6 per 100, 82 total minutes played
M. Dellavedova | K. Irving | K. Love | T. Thompson: +.2 per 100, 157 total minutes played
M. Dellavedova | K. Irving | M. Miller | T. Thompson: -5.6 per 100, 76 total minutes played