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Cavs: If he’s back, David Nwaba will likely be better utilized next year

David Nwaba did not have a bad 2018-19 season, but he was simply not maximized by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Obviously, Nwaba reportedly dealing with knee and ankle sprains did not help his play, and I would assume limited his minutes-share with Cleveland, anyhow.

He missed 31 games due those two ailments (per Basketball Reference), and when he was playing considerable minutes for former head coach Larry Drew, Nwaba was forced to switch on to opposing post-up players and bigger wings too often because of Cleveland’s injury issues with their big rotation, and even though he did fairly well defensively in those post-up scenarios (as he placed in the 80th percentile, per Synergy Sports Technology), he still projects as arguably the Cavaliers’ best perimeter defender next season, though their first 2019 NBA Draft selection may change that.