Are the Brooklyn Nets looking to move Spencer Dinwiddie?

In the absence of D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin, the Nets saw Spencer Dinwiddie step up and develop into a leader. After a solid 4th year in the league, are the Nets looking to gauge Dinwiddie’s trade value?

At the start of the 2017-18 season, Spencer Dinwiddie’s status with the Brooklyn Nets was uncertain. Nobody knew just what type of role he would play on the team. All we knew was that he would be coming off the bench. Then came injuries to the team’s two top guards early in the season. The door was wide open for Dinwiddie to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him. With both D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin watching from the bench, Dinwiddie excelled and has even garnered following as a Most Improved Player front runner.

Dinwiddie also became the 2018 Taco Bell’s Skill Challenge champion during All Star Weekend. He is the first Net to do so since Jason Kidd won in the inaugural competition in 2003. While not a prestigious competition, Dinwiddie gave the Nets national exposure on the All Star Weekend stage. The was big for a team with no nationally televised games during the 2017-18 season.

With that said, many feel Dinwiddie has developed into a nice starter along side D’Angelo Russell or sixth man. However, Dinwiddie might help the Nets the most moving forward by being on another roster.

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DInwiddie averaged 12.6 points, 6.6 assists in 28.8 minutes while appearing in 80 games this previous season. The question is how much higher of a ceiling Dinwiddie has. Having just turned 25 nearly, and completing his 4th season in the league, Dinwiddie doesn’t look to be a guy that the team can build around going forward. This is especially true considering the Nets still have ways to go in returning to respectability.

Brooklyn did improve by eight games this year, even with Jeremy Lin missing 81 games, D’Angelo Russell missing 34 and multiple other key players such a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert missing over 10 games each. But this core won’t make them a contender. Thus, Sean Marks may move multiple players this off season.

One hypothetical that many are considering is Brooklyn trading Dinwiddie by the NBA Draft. This would be to move up and grab a player near the lottery range. Brooklyn would need to add assets to do, most likely the Raptors pick that they own. Many scouts believing this draft is much better than next year’s, which will be the first time in over five years the Nets will control their own draft pick. So don’t be surprised if they add more assets to snag a player they feel fits their culture and is the future of the team.

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What could Dinwiddie fetch on his own? At the trade Deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers were said to have offered Brooklyn their 2018 first round pick (which ended up being pick 25) for Dinwiddie before they sent it to the Los Angeles Lakers. After a lackluster second half of the season for Dinwiddie however, it’s tough to say the Nets could get that haul now.

At the end of the day, the best move for Brooklyn would likely be to package Dinwiddie up with pick 29 and attempt to see if they can move up in the draft. Dinwiddie gave the Nets organization and fans many memorable moments by hitting a number of clutch shots for the team and becoming a leader in Lin and Russell’s absence. But the plan for Nets GM Sean Marks is still the same as it was when he was hired. That is to find diamonds in the rough, develop and potentially flip for future assets going forward. We saw the team do this with Tyler Zeller earlier this season. Don’t be surprised if they do the same thing with Dinwiddie come June 21st.