Delly NBL Focused, Open to Future NBA Return

Following his two-year commitment to Melbourne United being announced on Wednesday, Boomers guard Matthew Dellavedova has not closed the door on another NBA return, given the right opportunity.

Dellavedova’s re-signing with the club comes after he departed just one season into a three-year deal following the culmination of the side’s Playoffs appearance in NBL22 to take up an opportunity with the Sacramento Kings.

It must, however, be noted that he left with the best wishes of the club, and has returned to the NBL “locked in to Melbourne”.

“Right now, it’s NBL full steam ahead [but] I would never fully close the door on the NBA,” Dellavedova told ESPN.

“Seeing what Xav (Cooks) did, winning a title – and then I saw him in his first game over there in Washington when we played him,

“Because the season finishes so early, if there was ever an opportunity to come back and make a playoff run after the NBL season, obviously I’d look at that.

“I’m locked in to Melbourne for these two years and I’m really excited about that, and that’s 100 per cent where my focus is.”

Dellavedova’s role in Melbourne looks set to be drastically different to what he experienced in Sacramento.

The 2016 NBA champion averaged just 6.7 minutes per game across 32 appearances with the Kings, before his season was cut short due to a finger injury.

At Melbourne though, he’ll be the focal point of the offence, and he’ll be looking to back up his All-NBL Second Team selection from his last stint at the club with another successful campaign.

“I feel like throughout my career in the NBA I’ve been able to be a great role player and figure out where I fit in and can complement and make others better,” he said.

“You do a lot of those same things coming back to Australia in the NBL but the result – you have a lot more impact on that.

“There’s almost more pressure in a way and I think it’s a great challenge to test your skills and test your game in another way. I’m excited for that.

“I really enjoyed that aspect of it two years ago and found it challenging and frustrating at times, but also really rewarding as well – especially after a slower start when we picked things up towards the end of the year.”