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:
I have Lakers with $17.2 in space, cutting Nwaba drops them by $1.3 mil but then they have empty roster charge of $815k, so basically $500k
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 12, 2017
So KCP can get $500k more or 17.7 roughly if Lakers cut Nwaba, that would allow Lakers to sign Bryant via cap for 3 or 4 years
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 12, 2017
If Nwaba clears waivers can re-sign. So more $ for KCP + longer potential deal for Bryant and shot of inking Nwaba back on 2yr, if he clears
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 12, 2017
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.