After run overseas, Delaney Hawks-ready
Having just finished a remarkable career at Virginia Tech five years ago, Malcolm Delaney deserved to hear his name announced in the 2011 NBA Draft.
That moment never came, but luckily for the former Hokies star, it wasn’t that hard on him and he was more than prepared to move in a different direction.
“I had a good agent that kept it real with me,” Delaney told Amico Hoops on Tuesday. “Of course I knew I should’ve been drafted, but going into draft night I didn’t expect to get drafted -- so I wasn’t one of those guys who had my whole family thinking that I was getting drafted and then I didn’t get called.”
Two weeks before the draft, Delaney and his agent Andrew Vye felt they had a good contract in place for him to play in France, so he agreed to a deal with Elan Chalon.
“Realistically we knew the possibilities of me getting drafted and we just went with that,” Delaney said. “That was it. I was right about going to make money to try and better my family’s life.”
While in Europe, the now 27-year-old racked up two championships and numerous accolades between four different teams and multiple leagues.
Those highlights include: A title with Chalon in his first season as the team’s second-best scorer, All-Eurocup First Team honors the next year and both a league and Finals MVP in 2013 while leading Bayern Munich to its first German championship since 1955.
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Through all of that success, one might think that making the NBA was his main goal, but it wasn’t Delaney’s priority.
“My journey wasn’t to get to the league,” he said. “It was just to be the best player I could in Europe. If it came, then it came.”
What came out of it for Delaney after a half-decade of hard work and determination was a two-year, $5 million contract to play under Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta. The sides agreed on the deal on July 15.
Because coach “Bud” has a system similar to the one Delaney had previously played in, it’s made the transition from Euroball to the NBA simple for him.
“He’s a player’s coach,” Delaney said of Budenholzer. “He genuinely likes having me here, so I kind of get that vibe from him. I’m happy to be here, so when I go out I try to do my best to do as much as possible that I can to help the team.”
The Hawks head coach was more than happy to put in a good word about his backup point guard.
“He’s certainly not a rookie as far as playing experience is concerned,” Budenholzer told Amico Hoops. “He’s played a lot of high-level games and pressurized games. He has a great understanding of the game.
“I don’t know if we’re making it easier on him -- I know he’s making it easier on us for sure.”
As for who he’s backing up, Delaney likes what Dennis Schroder has brought to the table. Citing that he’s finally claiming the role of “that guy” after playing behind Jeff Teague for three years, he likes the 23-year-old’s work ethic and talent.
“He’s the type of guy that you need -- harasses the point guards, puts pressure on other defenses,” Delaney said. “I think he’s working on being a leader and getting used to having all of those guys around him following him. But he’s doing a pretty good job so far.”
In order to toughen him up, Delaney admits that he’s pushed Schroder to his limits in practice to prepare him for the league’s best on a nightly basis.
“My job is to make him better,” he said. “Take no plays off on him. He’s going to be playing against guys like Kyrie [Irving] and stuff like that, so when we practice or when we scrimmage against each other, I try my best to go at him and make sure he doesn’t get anything easy because it’s going to be tough for him every night.”
That hard-nosed attitude is the first thing that caught Budenholzer’s attention.
“He just kind of quiet, but tough—isn’t flustered or scared of any moment,” Budenholzer said of Delaney. “His shooting, his pull-up mid-range game is unique and special. I think he sees the court well. He’s defended well. We’re happy with him.”
A mere six games into his NBA career, Delaney says the league is already what he’s expected it to be, with more athletes, better spacing and a plethora of skill players.
But he’s not focused on what everyone else is doing, just his team and his game, and Delaney didn’t hold back when discussing Atlanta’s 4-2 start to the season.
“We had two bad games where we didn’t play our style and it kind of showed because we don’t have the most talented team -- if we don’t play our style of play, then we’re not really that good,” he said.
“But for the most part, I think we’ve been playing well defensively, our bench has been coming out and picking up the pace sometimes when we needed it and we’ve been doing a good job following coach’s plans.”
To Delaney, his transition will become seamless over time as he gets more opportunities to show what he’s got.
“I’m still getting better and adjusting to everything, but I think I’ve been playing pretty well -- definitely for it being my first time in the league,” he said. “The more minutes I get every game, I get a lot more comfortable, so I think I’ve been doing pretty well.”
