BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- There are countless ways to measure a player’s impact. No matter the metric, it points to the same result: David Nwaba has been one of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ better players.

He deserves a long look this summer.

On Wednesday night against Brooklyn, the Cavs bumbled their way through a hideous first quarter. They shot 31 percent from the field, coughed the ball up eight times, had countless defensive breakdowns that led to layups, dunks, raised palms and some verbal sparring between players on the bench.

It was the start the Cavs needed to avoid. Then head coach Larry Drew turned to his bench, one of the most productive in the NBA. Led by Nwaba, Jordan Clarkson and Matthew Dellavedova, Cleveland cut the double-digit Brooklyn lead to five. And then moments later, just two.

“Our bench was very productive,” Drew said. “Thought David Nwaba gave us a big lift in the first half.”

Drew wasn’t the only one to single out Nwaba. Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie did the same, raving about the energetic Cleveland swingman who can play -- and defend -- four positions. Always playing bigger than his 6-foot-4 frame and battling forwards in the post, Larry Nance Jr. jokingly referred to Nwaba as Luke Cage the other night.

On Wednesday, Nwaba scored 14 points in the first half. He finished with a career-high 22 on an efficient 9-of-13 shooting. The box score again showed him as one of the team’s difference-makers, tallying the fourth-best plus-minus behind Clarkson, Love and Dellavedova.

That’s not new. On the season, Nwaba has logged 633 total minutes. During that time, the Cavs have been outscored by just eight points. That’s the second-best plus-minus. In terms of net rating, only Love has been better. ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus? Nwaba is third, behind Nance and Love. Defensive RPM, Nwaba is also third.

Dig deeper into the numbers and it shows the same. With Nwaba on the court, the Cavs boast an offensive rating of 111.8 compared to 106.5 with him off the floor. That’s the difference between a Milwaukee-level offense, which ranks third in the NBA, and the Mavericks’ 20th-ranked unit.

On defense, the impact is striking as well. The Cavs have a rating of 111.8 with Nwaba on the court. It’s an astonishingly-poor 119.0 when he’s on the bench.

Injuries have derailed what Nwaba hoped would be a prove-it season. He rejected an offer from playoff-bound Indiana for this greater opportunity in Cleveland. Because of knee soreness and a nasty sprained ankle, Nwaba’s has only played 33 games and will likely be limited as the Cavs enter the home stretch. That’s the only thing to slow him down.

Still, the brief glimpse the organization has gotten is positive -- and members of the front office have plenty to think about.

Coming off a season where they will have one of the league’s worst records, the Cavs have $134 million in salary committed, which would put them in the luxury tax by about $2 million. Of course, that number can decrease with some off-season maneuvering. Maybe Cleveland finally finds a taker for exiled JR Smith, who is set to make $15.6 million in 2019-20. Perhaps one of the many other players on an expiring deal will get moved.

So, given their cap, is there still a spot for Nwaba?

Because Nwaba has three years or less of NBA service, he will be a restricted free agent this summer -- if the Cavs extend a qualifying offer of around $1.9 million to him in late June. That would give Cleveland a chance to match any offer sheet he receives. Combining his injury-riddled season and the quiet that surrounded last summer’s free agency, it’s hard to envision another team prying him away.

In a rebuild, these are the kinds of players teams need to find. On the other side of the floor Wednesday was Brooklyn, which plucked Joe Harris off the scrap heap and helped turn him into one of the league’s prolific 3-point bombers. Dinwiddie was underutilized for two seasons in Detroit before becoming integral to Brooklyn’s renaissance. Shabazz Napier, once a first-round pick, bounced around before inking a two-year deal with the Nets this summer. He helped Brooklyn survive a recent Dinwiddie injury.

The Cavs’ goal is player development. That means searching every path for ascending players, on the cusp of a breakout. One of those looks to be in Cleveland already.