Cavs’ Dellavedova hopeful over future with the NBA champions

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova is hopeful of remaining with the NBA champions despite becoming a free agent.

Dellavedova, 25, heads into free agency as a championship winner after the Cavs’ triumph over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

The Australian wants to stay at the Cavs, the team he joined in 2013, but knows anything is possible.

“I hope so,” Dellavedova told a news conference when asked if he would be in Cleveland next season.

“Free agency obviously coming up, starts July 1st and in the NBA you never know what’s going to happen.

“I’ve had a great three years there and hope we can figure something out, but with the salary cap how it is and with the amount of money they’ve paid a lot of other guys, we’ll see what happens.”

Dellavedova is set to start preparing for the Olympics with Australia, who are fancied as a potential medal chance in Rio.

But they will be without the Utah Jazz’s Dante Exum and likely Warriors centre Andrew Bogut, who is unlikely to recover in time from a knee injury.

Bogut suffered the injury in game five of the NBA Finals and Dellavedova recalled being immediately concerned about Australia’s Olympic chances.

“When I saw him go down, that’s the first thing I thought, ‘S***, Rio’,” he said.

“I’ve talked to [him] and he’s doing everything he can around the clock just to give himself a slim hope because he wants to be there with us and he’d have to have a miraculous recovery.

“But we’ll see what happens and we’d love him to be part of the squad because last year was awesome having him a part of it and being on the same team, rather than getting hit with the screens he was getting you open.”