Brooklyn Nets Midseason Grades: Backcourt Edition

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Jan 17, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Toronto Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet (23) steals the ball from Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8) during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

PG. Brooklyn Nets. SPENCER DINWIDDIE. C.

The Nets brought in Spencer Dinwiddie as their new backup point guard after releasing Yogi Ferrell, but it’s still unclear whether Dinwiddie can be Brooklyn’s long-term answer for this role. Aside from Jeremy Lin, he is the only true point guard on the Nets’ roster.

Dinwiddie was originally signed to a partially guaranteed deal the same day Brooklyn waived Ferrell. He was also the only player on a non-fully guaranteed contract, but the Nets elected not to waive him by the January 7 deadline, thus guaranteeing his contract.

Through 18 games in Brooklyn, Dinwiddie isn’t posting extraordinary numbers, but he’s still adjusting to a new stable role on an NBA team. After all, Dinwiddie only played in a combined 46 games in the prior two seasons with the Detroit Pistons, and has bounced around in the D-League before joining the Nets.

Prior to Brooklyn, Dinwiddie had only started in one game. Already with the Nets, he’s started in four.

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He had a few good games where passing seemed to be his forte, including an eight-assist game against the Houston Rockets, and three other games where he tallied four or more assists. It’s still far from being consistent, as his assists average is 2.6, but he’s showing some signs of being a good distributor.

And while Dinwiddie’s scoring hasn’t been stellar (5.2 points per game), Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson praised the 23-year-old point guard for his defense.

"“One thing we’ve liked about him is his defense,” Atkinson told the New York Post after Dinwiddie’s contract was guaranteed. We like his length, his versatility. He’s helped our defense. Our defense has improved the last 10 or 11 games. Unfortunately, our offense has gone a little south. We have to balance those two, but we’re working on it.”"

While defense is something the Nets have been lacking all season, Dinwiddie will need to drastically boost his production before he can be considered a solid backup point guard for Brooklyn.