2018 NBA free agency grades: Cavaliers scoop David Nwaba

The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to sign guard David Nwaba. In the midst of a disappointing offseason, this was a good move.

Yahoo! Sports‘ Shams Charania reported Wednesday morning that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be signing guard David Nwaba. There are no details yet as to the specific terms of contract.

The two parties are still trying to figure things out (most likely trying to figure out whether he’ll be playing on the $3.3 million bi-annual exception or for some amount of the $8.6 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception), but they will be joining forces nonetheless.

This is easily one of the more disappointing offseasons for the Cavaliers. Signing Nwaba isn’t a game-changer, but more of a nice addition to the team. Of course, the biggest headline of the 2018 NBA offseason was LeBron James deciding to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cleveland dominated the league for as long as James was on the team. Sure, they didn’t win as many championships as Cavs fans would have liked, but they also had to play the Golden State Warriors every time. Even so, James still managed to bring Cleveland its first championship.

Now that he’s gone, the team is set to head in another direction. The Cavs seem like they’re trying to still compete, but there’s no question they aren’t going to be the same team they once were. In one of the more questionable moves of the summer, the Cavaliers gave Kevin Love a big five-year extension. Fortunately, this means they could trade him at a later date so they don’t lose him for nothing.

Many believed that they would have gone for a rebuild. Collin Sexton looks to be the future of the team, and that comes as no surprise. With that being said, signing Nwaba is a good move and it should be a good fit for both sides.

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The 25-year-old guard has only played in the league for two years. In that span he’s played for both the Lakers and the Chicago Bulls. He came into the league undrafted and has made some nice impressions. It helps that he’s played for two teams that have been in the lottery.

He played in 70 games last season, starting in 21 of those. He averaged 7.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.8 steals per game. He’s not going to hit many 3s, as he only averaged 0.7 attempts per game. Despite the ability to knock down the occasional 3, he won’t do it consistently.

He is a player that will give everything he’s got on the court. That’s expected when you think about how far he’s come. Someone who had to fight for 10-day contracts is usually going to be giving it all he has.

Nwaba can do that for the Cavaliers this season. He’s a physical guard, matching up at 6’4″ and 217 pounds. He’s also athletic and gets most of his points around the rim or in transition. If the team can get out and run, he should excel nicely, and he’s committed on the defensive end.

While he’s not going to be that huge game-changer or even end up being an All-Star, he’s still going to be a nice depth piece. He can come off the bench or start for Cleveland if need be.

The Cavaliers needed an injection of youth and depth this summer, especially after losing the best player to ever play for the franchise. As long as the contract isn’t too big, then they came away with a good deal on a good young player.

Grade: B