Instant reaction: Cavs sign defensive standout David Nwaba
The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed defensive stud David Nwaba. What does it mean for the team?
According to basketball insider Shams Charania, the Cleveland Cavaliers have signed defensive standout David Nwaba, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 7.9 points and 4.7 rebounds with 1.4 defensive win shares through 70 games (21 starts) for the Chicago Bulls last season.
Free agent David Nwaba has come to terms with the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources tell Yahoo. Both sides are still working on final details of deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 1, 2018
Nwaba comes to the Cavaliers able to play significant minutes at the shooting guard position, having averaged 23.5 minutes per game last season.
While restricted free agent Rodney Hood has had contract negotiations stall with the Cavs, fellow shooting guard J.R. Smith is a possible trade target for the Houston Rockets. Kyle Korver has been discussed as a target by the Philadelphia 76ers.
If the Cavs don’t rescind his qualifying offer, which would only happen if they sought to let him sign with a team as an unrestricted free agent, Hood will be in Cleveland for at least next season.
However, Smith and Korver could very well be gone by the season opener. It’s unlikely that the Cavaliers would let all three go given that they’ll be devoid of elite three-point shooting in the aftermath but Jordan Clarkson is the only shooting guard guaranteed to return.
It’s also possible for the Cavs to start George Hill at the two — especially if none of Hood, Korver or Smith returns — given his three-point prowess.
That said, Nwaba could be in for another season where he plays a significant role as a backup shooting guard, where Clarkson emerges as the backup point guard behind a fellow Tazmanian Devil in rookie Collin Sexton.
At the two, Nwaba’s skillset is pretty simple.
He’s not a great jump shooter by any stretch of the imagination (33.3 percent shooting from three for his career) but he’s able to make an impact as a slasher because of his burst and vertical explosion.
He’ll move the ball and find the right man whether at a standstill or on the move (career average of 1.5 assists per game), signs of a solid basketball IQ, but he’s not a good enough ball-handler to play the one full-time.
His calling card is his defense, where his tenacity, quick instincts, hands and footwork allow him to guard top-tier perimeter players.
As you can see, not only can he keep up, he’s not afraid to pick them up fullcourt either.
That said, it looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers plan to make two skills the primary staples of the new era: defense and athleticism.
Teams like the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat have utilized those two skills and melded them with an egalitarian offensive philosophy to be competitive even though they may not have the talent of teams like the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets it Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers have not amassed the talent of the Warriors, Rockets or Celtics either, along with a host of other teams, and could do worse than taking the page from Utah’s book (who went 48-34 last season, earning the fifth-seed in the Western Conference Playoffs where they advanced to the Semifinals) or Miami’s (who went 44–38, earning the sixth-seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs).
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Nwaba, who went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft, will be entering his third season.
*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com