Cavs: If he’s back, David Nwaba will likely be better utilized next year

Nwaba should get more interior looks off movement

In a Beilein offense that should maximize the vision of a pick-and-roll ball-handler such as Matthew Dellavedova (who is an expiring player I believe should be extended this offseason), to go with quality passing bigs in Nance and Kevin Love near the top of the key and in dribble hand-offs on the wings, back door cuts leading to baseline layups/dunks and short floaters should come regularly for the high-flying Nwaba.

Last season, though he had the highest percentage of his young NBA career shooting three-pointers from the corner (a 36.1% clip on a frequency of 48.0%, per Basketball Reference), Nwaba was standing outside the arc in spot-up position far too often. That wasn’t his fault, really, considering that’s what Cleveland had him doing too much, along with Cedi Osman and others, and as a result, Nwaba’s cutting wasn’t used nearly as much as it could have been.

Having Dellavedova, who missed the last 17 games of the regular season (per NBA.com) reportedly because of a concussion and only appeared in 48 games total last season with the Milwaukee Bucks and Cavs, running the offense should help pieces such as Nwaba and Ante Zizic get more opportunities closer to the basket as cutters.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the middle of the pack last season in cutting shot frequency at 6.6%, but in terms of scoring efficiency, only two teams (the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks) were worse, according to Synergy.

Beilein’s offenses at Michigan (in addition to many other places such as Canisius) utilized wide pin downs constantly (as shown in the below video courtesy of Lee DeForest), and combined with a number of ball screens for players such as Collin Sexton and Osman that should draw off-ball defensive eyes, Nwaba should be able to get the ball delivered to him with Love’s shooting and Nance’s lob receiving presence opening up cutting lanes.

If Dellavedova (who had the second-most assists to Nwaba) is healthier and Sexton improves his playmaking some, Nwaba should get more chances to get going down hill after back screens set by Zizic or potentially Nance, which was not the case often enough last year, really.

In the 2017-18 season, Nwaba was far more efficient and was used more as a cutter, as he placed in the 72nd percentile with the Chicago Bulls on a frequency of 13.8%, per Synergy, whereas on Cleveland’s largely unimaginative offense last year, he only placed in the 12th percentile and had a frequency of just 10.6%.

The 66-year-old Beilein’s unselfish offense and defense would better utilize Nwaba (if he’s brought back), who could be a key bench piece for years to come for Cleveland.