Cleveland Cavaliers’ David Nwaba’s injury hurting his value, team’s depth

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed David Nwaba this past offseason with the intention of adding young depth to their roster. But through 43 games this season, Nwaba hasn’t been on the floor enough to determine his true value to the team.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard David Nwaba was assumed to be one of the better two-way players on the team’s roster when the season began. Nwaba, who signed a one-year deal over the summer, had been thought to be an ever-improving defender whose offensive game was steadily growing. After being lost in the shuffle over the first ten games of the campaign, the 25-year-old finally started to see some consistent playing time and it translated into some decent production for Cleveland.

On the season, Nwaba’s averaging 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per contest. He’s played in 21 games this season.

More from Cavs Analysis

• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
• Projecting how much Cavs’ 3 two-way signings might play this season
• 4 Cavaliers looking to make a name for themselves in training camp
• Mitchell’s numbers getting trimmed a bit wouldn’t be bad thing for Cavaliers

But nagging injuries have gotten the best of Nwaba, sidelining him for nearly over half of the Cavaliers’ contests played. Since November 24th, Nwaba has missed eighteen of an available twenty-five contests, per Basketball Reference.

A reported knee and ankle injury have been the culprits causing Nwaba’s absence, an ankle sprain suffered on December 21st at Toronto keeping him out most recently. While the injuries are out of his control, it’s hurting both Nwaba and the Cavaliers in the long run.

Sure, the Cavaliers aren’t expected to win many games this season. With an 8-35 record, the question of “Will they win twenty games?” is a very real one. But they’d prefer to be competitive at the very least in stage one of their rebuilding process. Nwaba going down for an extended period of time is throwing a wrinkle in that attempt.

Nwaba is used as a multi-purpose player for Cleveland. At times, he’s running alongside Collin Sexton to start the ballgame. Other times, he’s either slid down to the small forward position with the task of defending the elite-level players of the NBA or placed in the second unit at the three-spot to help out Matthew Dellavedova and Jordan Clarkson strengthen the bench.

That versatility for Nwaba to be able to play both in the backcourt and frontcourt is what makes him an asset for the Wine and Gold.

But being injured is not allowing Nwaba to show off his talents to the organization. And since he’s on a one-year deal, it’s also playing a factor in if the Cavaliers will bring him back next season to remain in the rotation.

With Alec Burks playing for his future every day and doing well currently, one wonders if Cleveland would prefer to keep him past the NBA Trade Deadline this season and face his free-agency situation in the summer when the time comes. On another note, two-way forward Jalen Jones is trying to make a splash and guarantee a second contract with the Cavaliers.

Those are just two cases on a crowded roster full of guys with something to prove. Nwaba’s part of that bunch but is quickly falling out of favor due to him being unavailable. With the Cavaliers more than likely set to bring in a player that plays the two or three-spot, he might just be the odd man out.