Chicago Bulls: David Nwaba proving to be an early season surprise
Chicago Bulls guard David Nwaba is proving to be an early-season surprise.
The Chicago Bulls entered the 2017-18 campaign with 11 players on the roster with three or less years of NBA experience. With the front office committing to a youth movement, one of the expectations was the Bulls were going to lose their fair share of games this season.
Having dropped six of their first eight contests, it is safe to say there haven’t been any surprises in that department. What has proven to be an early-season surprise is the acquisition of second-year guard David Nwaba.
During his senior season at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Nwaba averaged 12.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per outing. In spite of the somewhat respectable numbers, though, he was not selected in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Undaunted by the setback, Nwaba attended a D-League tryout and earned a spot on the Los Angeles D-Fenders’ roster. He was eventually called up by the Los Angeles Lakers and appeared in 20 games for them during last season.
In those 20 outings, Nwaba averages included 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds on 58 percent shooting from the field. The numbers weren’t too bad considering he didn’t get his first taste of NBA action until the latter part of the season.
Unfortunately for Nwaba, his stint with the Lakers would be short-lived as they waived him to make room to sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Two days later, the Bulls signed Nwaba off waivers and the move has netted a decent return, to say the least.
After spending the first month of the season coming off the bench, Nwaba was recently inserted into the starting lineup over the last three games.
What were the results?
Well, while he did have a quiet night against the Miami Heat on Nov. 1 (scoring four points on 2-of-4 shooting), he did gobble up 11 rebounds and record two blocks. In the next outing against the Orlando Magic, Nwaba had his highest scoring total of the season so far, chipping in 16 points to go along with five rebounds and a pair of steals.
It is also worth noting that Nwaba was team’s second-leading scorer from this contest and was one of seven Bulls who scored in double figures in an impressive 105-83 win over the third-best team in the Eastern Conference.
The next night against the New Orleans Pelicans — a game in which the Bulls lost 96-90 in overtime — Nwaba was on his way to another solid outing before he sustained an ankle injury at the 5:17 mark in the third quarter. But despite being forced to leave the game early, Nwaba still finished with seven points, four rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes of action.
Nwaba is regarded as one of the Bulls’ most explosive players and he shows no fear when it comes to guarding the opposing team’s best player — something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
"“The biggest thing with David is he’s really given us toughness factor with that first group,” Fred Hoiberg told the Daily Herald. “His speed in the open court has been a one-man fast break on several occasions.”“He’s taken on the challenge of guarding the other team’s best player. He’s rebounded at a high rate. So he’s really given us a big spark and given us a physical presence out there on the perimeter.”"
When the Bulls acquired Nwaba, it wasn’t considered a move that was going to move the needle all that much in the grand scheme of things. Based on what we have seen so far, however, he has exceeded those expectations.
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While his status remains in doubt for the upcoming game against the Toronto Raptors, what is a certainty is Nwaba has an opportunity to be an integral part of the rotation going forward — something few expected when the Bulls acquired him back in July.