Cavaliers: David Nwaba will reportedly not receive qualifying offer
The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly not extend the qualifying offer to David Nwaba, and it’s unclear whether or not he will be back in 2019-20.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly not be extending a qualifying offer to guard/wing David Nwaba, as was initially reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and was hinted at to be likely the case by The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon in a tweet about his article posted today (which is subscription required, for the record).
As a result, Nwaba will become an unrestricted free agent and hit the open market. According to Spotrac, Nwaba made just over $1.5 million during 2018-19, and a qualifying offer would have been just over $1.9 million for 2019-20.
More from King James Gospel
- 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
- The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
- 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
- 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
- This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
This should not come as a huge surprise to Cavs fans as general manager Koby Altman has been hard at work reforming the roster with a very active 2019 NBA Draft, which we’ve highlighted here at KJG.
This does not mean for certain Nwaba will not be back in the Wine and Gold next year, though. Fedor notes that the Cavaliers would be open to bringing him back on a different deal.
If he is back, it will more than likely be on a multi-year deal, though. Nwaba himself expressed a desire to stay in Cleveland toward the end of the season, and perhaps, the two sides can figure out an agreement.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster is considerably deeper at the wing position in the aftermath of the 2019 NBA Draft, with rookies Kevin Porter Jr. and Dylan Windler both on the roster. That being said, Nwaba’s defensive skill set would still be valuable, considering the Cavs were the worst defensive team in the league by a wide margin last year.
Should Nwaba stay, hopefully, his hard work ethic will rub off on the team during practice as well.
While Nwaba’s numbers last season did not exactly jump off the page, as he had 6.5 points per game on 52.7% effective field goal shooting, to go with 3.2 rebounds (per Basketball Reference), and he missed 31 games due to two separate reported and ankle injuries, it should be noted his defensive prowess in his calling card.
He often guarded the best guard on the opposing team. It is hard to imagine him commanding a high contract amount on the open market, though, so for the right price, it would be worth bringing him back.
If for nothing else, he could hopefully help Collin Sexton and Darius Garland defensively.
Nonetheless, Fedor mentioned that due to the Cleveland Cavaliers likely waiving J.R. Smith this weekend, Cleveland will have a roster spot open, and if Nwaba is not back with the Cavs ultimately, that would mean Cleveland would have two open roster spots, and Fedor would then note that it’s likely that those last two roster spots would be minimum-contract players.
Next. Cavs: 3 keys to success for Dylan Windler in 2019-20. dark
We’ll see what the market is for Nwaba in the coming months, and maybe he will be back, but for now, it’s unclear.