Chicago Bulls: Grading each move made this offseason

Bulls claim David Nwaba off of waivers

Chicago Bulls Grade: B+

On the same day that they signed Blakeney to a two-way contract, the Bulls claimed guard David Nwaba off of waivers from the Los Angeles Lakers. Nwaba had a lot of success with the Lakers last season but was made expendable when the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The 24-year-old Nwaba is a nice flyer for the rebuilding Bulls.

Nwaba is a 6-foot-4 two-guard who averaged 6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 20 games for the Lakers last season. He spent most of his year (40 games) in the G League, where he put up a pretty impressive overall stat line (14.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game).

Nwaba is a solid offensive player who shows impressive power and athleticism. He is not much of an outside shooter or distributor, and that undoubtedly hurts his upside, but Nwaba is not a liability on the offensive end. He is a particularly interesting player in transition.

While his offensive game is solid, Nwaba’s defensive prowess is what really stands out. He is a strong perimeter defender who uses his length, power and athleticism extremely well on the defensive end of the court. He also has a knack for making plays in the passing lanes and is an incredible help-side defender.

For a guard, Nwaba has elite rim protection skills. Many times in the G League, he would come from the weak side and stuff a driving player at the rim. It will be interesting to see if that skill can translate to the next level.

Similar to Blakeney, the Bulls putting a claim on Nwaba involves no risk. He is on a completely non-guaranteed contract. He does not have quite the upside of Blakeney, but Nwaba is a talented player who I could see taking on some sort of role for the Bulls this season and in the future. A no risk move with a bit of upside.