Lakers Waive David Nwaba After Agreeing To Terms With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
David-nwaba
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers made their first major addition of the free agency period on Tuesday, landing highly sought-after guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a one-year, $18 million deal, but it required a few other moves to be made. With only a little over $17 million in cap space available to give Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers opted to waive guard David Nwaba, whose contract was not guaranteed.

However, this move isn’t just about giving more money to Caldwell-Pope, and it hopefully won’t be the end of Nwaba’s time with the Lakers, either. In a series of tweets that are now looking prophetic, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explained the options available to the Lakers with Nwaba being waived:

Essentially, waiving Nwaba is a calculated gamble. He was one of the feel-good stories of last season for Los Angeles after going undrafted in the D-League and clawing his way onto the D-Fenders, where he caught the eye of their parent club. An opposing team can now claim Nwaba if they choose.

However, if this gamble pays off, not only will the Lakers free up the room to give Caldwell-Pope the money he wants, but they could also use the cap space created to give a long-term, team-friendly deal to impressive 42nd-overall pick Thomas Bryant, then add Rajon Rondo with the room exception, and then resign Nwaba. It’s a bit complicated, but this could be a painless move if Nwaba goes unclaimed.

It’s a risk but hopefully one that will pay off.

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