David Nwaba’s injury could lead to Iman Shumpert’s return

The Brooklyn Nets now need to find a way to make up for David Nwaba, who had become one of the team’s best players off the bench.

The Brooklyn Nets suffered a huge loss when David Nwaba went down in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss.

The team announced the wing suffered a right Achilles injury, though multiple reports indicated he, in fact, tore his Achilles. The latter would mean his season is over.

Nwaba’s injury comes exactly one week after the Nets waived Iman Shumpert to make room for Wilson Chandler, who had to miss the first 25 games of the season for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Shumpert was signed as the 16th man on the roster, though he played more than several others who were on the Nets before he signed — which is why it might be in Brooklyn’s best interest to re-sign him, if possible.

As pointed out by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, after the Nets face the Houston Rockets on December 28, they can apply for a hardship extension. But Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert have an impact on whether or not the team could add a 16th player.

If either guard is back or expected to be back within two weeks of the exception application, the Nets can’t add a 16th player to its roster. If both are expected to miss two weeks or more, Brooklyn can add an extra player. But, once one of Irving or LeVert returns, the roster has to be trimmed back down to 15 players.

The return of Shumpert makes sense given he brought much of the same attributes as Nwaba on the defensive end. Though, again, Shumpert will likely be in town for a limited time.