Heading into an offseason filled with uncertainty, what are the odds that the Brooklyn Nets deal Spencer Dinwiddie?
Spencer Dinwiddie has our hearts. For fans who have been watching the Brooklyn Nets the past few years, Dinwiddie has been the consistent positive that we have held onto. Plain and simple: the guy is a winner and he’s an intelligent ballplayer. Some believe that Dinwiddie is our perfect sixth man for our championship aspirations. Others believe he should be dealt in a package for a third star. With the rise of Caris LeVert once again, does it change things for Spencer?
This is probably the more difficult question on the Nets plate for the coming season. If Caris LeVert can be consistent in his production beside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant then looking for a third star becomes redundant.
Recent history would show that whoever the third star is on a winning team has the difficult job of being consistent with limited touches. In turn, that player’s stat line tends to diminish but still have to keep percentages up. In other words, LeVert would be touching the ball less, be prioritized less, and has to have the mindset to always be ready at any given moment when he is needed.
That kind of job can cause anyone to regress and is often not the most coveted position. The other difficult part is the ego. The third star barely gets the same love from the people and media compared to the other two. Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Kevin Love, and even more recently Klay Thompson can attest to that.
If LeVert cannot be that guy, the chances that Dinwiddie is bundled in a package for other options alongside LeVert increases greatly.
The good thing going for Dinwiddie in the future is that the second unit would more than likely be his to command. His efficiency is down, he’s shooting 41.5 percent from the field, 77.8 percent from the charity stripe, and 30.8 percent from three. Those numbers are all down from last year but they also need context: much larger role this year; he only started in four games last season compared to 49 this year.
What can also be derived from this is that Dinwiddie can be more consistent off the bench playing against second units and be our Lou Williams. This is important because if the Nets want to reach and win the chip they need consistency from all their core players, which also means the job of the coaching staff is to put their core players in a position to succeed and be consistent.
Spencer Dinwiddie’s future seems to be reliant on a player that is not himself. But Sean Marks is a smart man, he knows the significance of having a strong second unit to complement his starting lineup. Having such will aid their goals of hoisting a parade in Brooklyn in the near future. So the likelihood that Dinwiddie is dealt in the immediate future seems unlikely.