Brooklyn Nets: Getting to know new addition David Nwaba
While Summer League was coming to a close, the Brooklyn Nets front office was finalizing the roster. What can new signing David Nwaba bring to the table?
Sunday night, the Brooklyn Nets Vegas Summer League squad fell in the semifinals to the Minnesota Timberwolves by the score of 85-77. Just as Summer League is now over for the Nets, the front office’s roster tinkering should be over as well (at least for a while).
With the recent signing of Cleveland guard David Nwaba, the Nets now have a full 15-man roster. Nwaba’s contract is a two-year deal for the veteran’s minimum ($1.7 million and $1.8 million each season) and includes a team option for the second season.
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The roster now looks like this.
Kevin Durant
Kyrie Irving
Spencer Dinwiddie
DeAndre Jordan
Joe Harris
Garrett Temple
Taurean Waller-Prince
Caris LeVert
Jarrett Allen
Dzanan Musa
Rodions Kurucs
David Nwaba
Wilson Chandler
Theo Pinson
Nicolas Claxton
Henry Ellenson (two-way contract)
Background
At 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds, the 26-year-old Nwaba spent three college seasons at Cal Poly and has played three NBA seasons with three different teams: the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls and, most recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.
He went undrafted in 2016 and worked his way up through the G-League before signing a 10-day contract with the Lakers in February 2017. He was waived in July of that year and was claimed by the Bulls two days later.
After playing a full season with Chicago, Nwaba signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Cavaliers. He spent last season there before becoming a free agent this off-season and signing with Brooklyn.
Offense
Nwaba has been a role player over the course of his career, averaging 21.5 minutes per game. As an off-ball player, he would ideally fill a “3-and-D” role, but he’s shown much more “D” than “3” thus far.
He’s only a 32.6% career 3-point shooter (32.0% last season) but shot 34.6% in 2017-18. He seemingly made a concerted effort to attempt more threes last season, averaging 2.7 attempts versus 1.1 the season prior. “Forcing” more long range attempts could have contributed to his percentage decline.
On the offensive side of the ball, the 3-point shot is key for Nwaba’s progression as a player. Perhaps he can get back to the ~35% level he was at two seasons ago.
Nwaba has been able to compensate for his lack of shooting by attacking the basket and being a decent finisher.
The guard made 61.5 percent of shots in the restricted area last season (per NBA.com). Among 263 players that attempted at least 100 shots in the restricted area, Nwaba ranked 154th in field goal percentage (41st percentile).
Defense
It’s Nwaba’s impressive defensive ability, however, that has kept him afloat in the NBA. The Cavaliers had the worst defensive rating in the entire league last season at 116.8, but it was a stronger 111.9 when Nwaba was on the floor.
He’s often been tasked with defending the opposition’s best scorers. There were three players that Nwaba guarded for over 30 possessions in a single game last season: James Harden (50), LeBron James (33) and Jimmy Butler (30).
Not only can Nwaba guard the “best” players, he can defend a wide variety of players across positions. Per Krishna Narshu‘s data, only 24 players defended a wider range of positions last season.
Nwaba spent nearly the same percentage of time defending guards (41.4 percent) as he did forwards (50.3 percent).
Projected Role
The Nets arguably have one of the deeper rosters in the NBA, so it’s unclear how much playing time Nwaba will receive. Coach Kenny Atkinson’s “bench heavy” approach (1st in bench minutes last season) will help the guard’s chances, however.
When there’s a need for an injection of defense, both Nwaba and new signee Garrett Temple could be called upon. Both players should help fill the defensive void created by the free agency departures of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and DeMarre Carroll.
Even if Nwaba doesn’t end up contributing much next season, he’s definitely a value signing given his defensive abilities and the fact he’ll only be making the veteran’s minimum.
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More credit should be given to the Nets’ front office, which from big signings like Kyrie Irving/Kevin Durant to smaller signings like Nwaba, has had quite the strong summer.