Cavs Waive Mamadi Diakite, RJ Nembhard, Nate Hinton, Two Others

The Cavaliers have waived center/forward Mamadi Diakite, shooting guard RJ Nembhard and guard/forward Nate Hinton, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Along with those three, point guard Sharife Cooper and Jamorko Pickett were also waived, Fedor reported.

Diakite, 25, is 6-foot-9 and appeared in 13 games with the Thunder last season after signing three 10-day contracts, the first on Jan 11. He averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, shooting 53 percent from the floor in those games.

He also spent time last season with the Lakeland Magic of the G League, averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 12 appearances.

As a rookie in 2020-21, Diakite was on a two-way contract with the Bucks for the majority of the season, before being promoted to a standard deal near the end.

He played well in the preseason, though, and the Cavs are likely to give him a longer look should he clears waivers and land in the G League. That is assuming no one else picks him up — and they might.

Nembhard, 23, is 6-5 and went undrafted out of Texas Christian in 2021, signing a two-way deal with Cleveland last October. He appeared in 14 games with the Cavs, as well as spent time with the G League’s Cleveland Charge of the G League.

Hinton, 23, is 6-5 and signed with the Pacers last September. He was waived a month later, but returned to Indiana on a 10-day contract in December. He then signed a two-way deal with the Pacers on April 7.

He appeared in two NBA games last season, and 21 with the Mavericks the year before that as a rookie. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.6 rebounds with the Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate.

Hinton was recently acquired by the Cleveland Charge in a G League trade with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the rights to center Norvel Pelle and the Charge’s second-round pick in the 2023 G League Draft.

Cooper, 21, is 6-1 and has appeared in 13 NBA games after being selected with the No. 48 overall pick in 2021.

He was waived by the Hawks in late July and also worked for the Lakers during the offseason. Last year, Cooper spent most of his time with the College Park SkyHawks of the G League, averaging 17.1 points and 6.9 assists in 22 games.

Pickett, 24, is 6-9 and went undrafted out of Georgetown in 2021. He appeared in 13 games with the Pistons last season after signing a two-way deal in September 2021. He split his time with the Motor City Cruise of the G League.