David Nwaba’s season officially came to an end on Friday when he underwent surgery.
The Brooklyn Nets wing had ruptured his right Achilles in the team’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. The Nets deemed the surgery a success on Friday.
Nwaba played in 20 games for the Nets in 2019-20. He averaged 5.2 points per game on 52.1% shooting (42.9 from 3-point territory).
As a result of Nwaba’s injury, along with Kyrie Irving’s right shoulder impingement, Caris LeVert’s surgically right thumb and Kevin Durant’s surgically repaired right Achilles, the Nets can look to add a 16th player to the roster by filing for a hardship exception. They can also file for a disabled player exception.
A hardship exception would allow the Nets to re-sign Iman Shumpert, though only until either LeVert or Irving returns. A disabled player exception would rule out a Shumpert return, though it would allow the Nets to add a player for the remainder of the season.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out why Shumpert could not return on a disabled player exception:
The David Nwaba Disabled Player Exception would only be worth $839,427 which is below the prorated minimum for a player. Ex: If the Nets have an open roster spot (they do not) and sign a player like Iman Shumpert, he would be signed for the minimum, not the DPE.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) December 20, 2019