Matthew Dellavedova one of eight Australians playing in the NBA

AUSTRALIA’S NBA contingent is worth $220m in contracts alone. With such a wealth of talent, Matthew Dellavedova is confident something special is on the horizon.

Matthew Dellavedova is entering his second season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

A CAREER that was fuelled by hope is now loaded with expectation for Matthew Dellavedova.

The kid from Maryborough who has joined the brigade of Australian NBA mainstays is brimming with confidence and has a “bring-it-on” attitude to boot.

Back home in an off-season lighter without national duties Dellavedova is dealing with a growing desire for the Boomers to capitalise on what could be a golden-era for home grown hoops.

The Milwaukee Bucks point guard, preparing for the second season of his four-year, $51 million deal, is one of eight Australians in the best basketball league in the world, with the chance a couple more could follow.

Their combined contracts total in excess of $220 million and that doesn’t include big man Andrew Bogut who is yet to find his next NBA home.

Matthew Dellavedova is entering his second season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Dellavedova is also pushing the Milwaukee front-office to chase down compatriot and “elite shooter” Ryan Broekhoff to bolster the Bucks’ scoring stocks.

With so much Australian talent available Dellavedova expects “something special” when they all come together for World Cup qualifiers, then the World Cup in China in 2019 and ultimately the Tokyo Olympics in 2022.

“It (Tokyo) was exactly three years away, a few days ago, and seeing that got me pretty excited,” Dellavedova said.

“We gave it a really good crack last year (in Rio) … that’s the best Boomers team I have played on, the level of commitment and togetherness of that team.

The Boomers are looking to improve on their Rio showing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Pictured (l-r) Ryan Broekhoff, Patty Mills and Joe Ingles.

“And when we can continue to incorporate guys like Ben (Simmons) and Thon (Maker) and Dante (Exum), the future only gets brighter.

“And the highest expectations for the Boomers come from us. There is no pressure, it’s just what we believe we can do and what we want to try to achieve.

“That’s how it’s been as individuals for all our careers with the Boomers and collectively as a group, we want to do something special that hasn’t been done in Australian men’s basketball.”

Dellavedova did something special himself when he signed his massive deal with Milwaukee having made his way to the NBA as an ungrafted rookie before getting “noticed” as a key cog in Cleveland’s 2015 NBA Championship winning team.

Australian Joe Ingles has signed a big new deal with the Utah Jazz.

Extravagance though isn’t his thing. Even his recent wedding to new wife Anna was a “backyard job”.

He bought a big new house and continues to fit out his tricked up basement, a workout and recovery paradise and an “investment” in his own future.

But unlike Bogut and fellow Australian Joe Ingles, who just signed the biggest deal of his career with the Utah Jazz, the lad known simply as “Delly” hasn’t got a passion for cars.

Instead he’s just staying the same kid from the country who knows hard work is the key to continued success, and that giving back as much as taking is important to the future for himself, and Aussie basketball.

“I’ve got a very loving wife who will keep me in check if I ever get a big head, and my sisters as well. I don’t think I have to worry about changing, and if I start to deviate from who I am they will pull me in pretty quick,” Dellavedova said.

“It’s pretty nice to know you are valued (with a big deal), and the Bucks appreciated what I could do, and gave me an opportunity to be set up for life.

“But basketball is what I love to do, I have been playing since I was four-years-old, and that will be the main thing for me for 15 years, I want to play for as long as I can.

“And I think you always want to try to give back as much as you can and there are lots of ways to do that. Money is the one everyone sees, but there is time, leadership, getting face-to-face with kids.

“There are things I want to do here, and in Milwaukee as well … the more you can inspire the kids to be better, at whatever it is, school basketball, life, it pays off down the road, and maybe they can then achieve what you have too, and everyone wins.”