The Cavaliers have reportedly come to agreement with free agent guard David Nwaba, who averaged just under eight points last season in 23 minutes per game as the Chicago Bulls backup point guard.
Nwaba, who worked his way to the Los Angeles Lakers through the D-League in 2016-17, but didn't make an impact there on a bad team, was claimed by the Bulls last summer and put together a nice season.
Nwaba shot just under 48 percent from the field as a Bull and almost 35 percent from the three-point line and joins the Cavalier guard depth chart.
Nwaba isn't a shooter but is strong on the defensive end and at 6'4 can be quite helpful as with long arms, athleticism, being taller than many on the point and is capable of defending point and shooting guards as well as some small forwards.
What the signing of Nwaba makes me think is that perhaps the Cavaliers are not finished dealing and are setting themselves up in case they are able to trade George Hill, which would lead to some substantial savings against the cap.
Nwaba hasn't officially signed, so I don't have any word on the financial aspect of the terms, but Nwaba has announced his "intent" to sign a contract.
The Cavaliers weren't finished as the team is reportedly finishing a trade that will send forward Sam Dekker to the team from the roster position challenged Los Angeles Clippers.
Dekker was the 15th overall pick from Wisconsin in 2015 by the Rockets, where he spent his first two seasons before spending last season with the Clippers after being one of seven players (or over half the then-Rockets bench) traded in the deal that sent Chris Paul to Texas.
The 24 year old averaged just 4.2 points per game in only 12 minutes of playing time per game for Los Angeles and has been given tags at two ends of the spectrum as I've read some reports that praise Dekker as a high energy player that works hard on both ends of the floor and others that have questioned his dedication to the game, so I'll reserve judgement on that part of Dekker's game, since I honestly don't remember seeing Sam Dekker play a minute for either the Rockets or the Clippers!
“A lack of maturity and focus regarding basketball” have plagued Sam Dekker throughout his career, one league source says. Chance for a fresh start with the #Cavs now. Dekker is talented and young enough to turn it around. https://t.co/SKIY8iubV0— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 5, 2018
Dekker can run the floor and will make the occasional spectacular dunk, but his shooting in the league has been pretty bad outside the paint with a painfully bad 16 percent from three last season and he might be miscast defensively as too not big enough to guard power forwards or quick enough against the small forwards.
Still, if he can even improve his outside shooting a little bit, he could help with the second team off the bench and there is an opportunity for minutes in Cleveland as they really only have one true "3" on the roster in Cedi Osman.
Rodney Hood can play small forward, but is better suited to play shooting guard and the other power forwards on the roster aren't suited to guard away from the basket.
You might be able to get away with Larry Nance Jr in certain defensive situations there, but I wouldn't want to try it too often and I wouldn't want to try Channing Frye or Kevin Love (who will be more of a PF/C this season) there as much as I would Nance!
Still, considering the cost (either cash, "Future considerations" and some swapped rights of European players that will likely never see the NBA anyway), I'm ok with taking a flyer on Dekker.
Dekker makes 2.7 million for the upcoming season and will be a restricted free agent next summer, so the risk is minimal.I'll be back later or tomorrow with the boxing challenge and another Pittsburgh Pirates addition through trade.
No comments:
Post a Comment