The low-cost acquisition of David Nwaba was one of Daryl Morey’s last moves as Rockets GM. Nwaba was signed in the 2019-20 season, despite being out with an Achilles tear, with the Rockets having a team option at $1.8 million on him for the 2020-21 season. Obviously the Rockets picked up that reasonably-priced option to see if he had made a recovery from his injury and could help the team.
Nwaba would almost certainly have been a very useful player on a roughly intact smallball Rockets team, with James Harden and Mike D’Antoni involved. Another rugged 6’5”, 230lb(ish) player with long arms, and a taste for contact, Nwaba would have fit right in with that team.