When the Houston Rockets singed David Nwaba to a multi-year contract last offseason, it was thought of as a sort of low-cost gamble. Nwaba was coming off of a dreaded Achilles injury, a potential death-sentence for a player that relies heavily on dynamic athleticism, but the contract was for the vet minimum, and the 2020-2021 year was a team option, which the Rockets opted into this past offseason once Nwaba’s health wasn’t in question.
While the Nwaba move technically happened under former GM Daryl Morey’s watch, current GM Rafael Stone was primarily in charge of uncovering under-the-radar players, and he was responsible for exercising Nwaba’s team option.