Matthew Dellavedova joins Danté Exum in Rising Stars World Team
We now have two Rising Stars representing Australia this year! According to head coach David Blatt, Matthew Dellavedova has been nominated to join this year's BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, as part of the World Team alongside fellow Aussie Danté Exum.
(Read more about the new USA vs World team format here.)
David Blatt says #Cavs G Matthew Dellavedova has been added to the Rising Stars game at All-Star Weekend.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 11, 2015
Instead of enjoying his All-Star break at San Francisco, Delly will be flying out from Chicago, transit at Cleveland, and then fly on to New York along with All-Star teammates LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
According to Tom Read from Believe The Hype, it seems like JR Smith has promised to take care of Delly during the All-Star weekend.
J.R. Smith told #BTHype he's personally going to take care of Matthew Dellavedova in NYC this weekend. pic.twitter.com/UXhLfO3jgS
— Tom Read (@traread) February 12, 2015
Matty has been averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists so far this season, and is currently second on the team for three-point accuracy (41.1% on 2.3 attempts) behind Kyrie Irving.
When interviewed before the Miami Heat game today, Delly sounds like he has his role all figured out.
“There’s a lot of athletic guys, so I can throw some alley-oops to [Andrew] Wiggins, [Rudy] Gobert and guys like that,” Dellavedova said. “I think that’s what my calling will be.” (source)
This change comes about after Celtics head coach Brad Stevens declared Kelly Olynyk to be out for the Rising Stars game. Earlier in the week, Jusuf Nurkic of the Denver Nuggets was named as a replacement for Thunder big man Steven Adams.
The NBA's roster page has not been updated with the Olynyk/Delly swap yet, but the World Team roster looks to include:
Updated World Team roster (12 Feb 2015)
Andrew Wiggins (Timberwolves)
Bojan Bogdanovic (Nets)
Dante Exum (Jazz)
Dennis Schroder (Hawks)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Gorgui Dieng (Timberwolves)
Jusuf Nurkic (Nuggets)
Nikola Mirotic (Bulls)
Matthew Dellavedova (Cavaliers)
Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Injured players
Kelly Olynyk (Celtics) - sprained right ankle Steven Adams (Thunder) - fractured right hand
Rising Stars game time
Don't forget to catch the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge on NBA League Pass. For Australian fans, the game will happen on 14 February (Sat), at 1pm Australia Eastern Time.