Instant Reaction: Cavs officially sign David Nwaba

The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially signed David Nwaba.

On Saturday, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman announced that the team signed defensive standout David Nwaba to a one-year, $1.5 million deal (contract details provided by cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon).

"The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard David Nwaba (pronounced NWAH-buh), Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today, Saturday, September 8 from Cleveland Clinic Courts."

Nwaba will wear number 12 for the Cavs.

Having become available once the Chicago Bulls rescinded his qualifying offer, the 24-year-old California-native originally agreed to sign with Cleveland Cavaliers on August 1st.

For whatever reason, Nwaba remained unsigned for over a month but there was speculation that his contract terms were connected to whatever contract restricted free agent Rodney Hood received from the Cavs. With Nwaba signing, it could mean that Hood’s signing is on the horizon as well.

Nwaba is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard who is an exceptional athlete that’s best suited as a cutter on offense. That’s a skill that can come in handy for any team but particularly one looking to run a system around a skilled power forward like Kevin Love.

In fact, Nwaba scored 1.35 points per possession on cuts (63.8 percent shooting from the field, 71st percentile) last season, so he’ll be one of the most effective cutters on the team from Day 1.

He’s not a great scorer at the NBA level, thanks to an inconsistent jumper. Nonetheless, the hope is that the 46.4 percent from three that Nwaba shot as a starter (per basketball-reference) last season will be more of what they see than the numbers he had from three in college (16.7 percent shooting for his career), the NBA G-League (23.5 percent shooting) or as a rookie the year prior (20.0 percent shooting).

Nwaba’s best ability is his ability to lockdown three to four positions on the floor every night. His athleticism, strength, focus and quickness are traits that allow him to standout on the defensive end and his willingness to guard players full-court provides the Cleveland Cavaliers with a player who they can trust to apply pressure to opposing ball-handlers.

With so many players on the wing, Nwaba may not see the floor but his interest in the Cavs seems to indicate otherwise. He’s worthy of minutes so, with both Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith on the trading block, he’s likely anticipating an eventual trade.

*Unless otherwise referenced, stats gathered from basketball.realgm.com