Nets: Spencer Dinwiddie Knows There’s a Place for Him With KD and Kyrie

Spencer Dinwiddie knows he’ll have a role on the 2020-21 Nets.

Spencer Dinwiddie furthered his explosion into stardom in 2019-20 with every stepback he made, and every clutch opportunity he made his own.

The 6-5 guard knows that next season will be different, and he’ll be flanked by (presumably) two of the game’s greatest stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on a nightly basis. But though many are already discounting his role in taking this Nets team to the next level, Dinwiddie would like to remind the basketball universe not to sleep on him.

What, you thought the player who invented the idea of fans investing in his success would downplay his potential ascension? Get real.

Dinwiddie spoke to CBS Sports’ James Herbert this week, and waxed rhapsodic about the role he’ll play next year on the Eastern Conference favorites.

“With Kyrie and KD, if you’re telling me I get to come out here and pass to two phenomenal scorers and get 10 assists a game and maybe be in second gear a lot of times with my scoring, I’m fine,” Dinwiddie told Herbert. “If I average 14 and 10 and we win a title, but KD averages 35 and Ky averages 25 or whatever it would be, like, I’m good with that. I’m more than fine with that. That’s more in line with how I played the game growing up than it is a lot of the other spurts and seasons that I’ve put together since I’ve been older.”

If you watched Dinwiddie’s rapid rise over the past few seasons — it’s somehow only been four years since he was dealt for Cameron Bairstow, though it feels like four decades — then you knew this would be his response. He’ll play hero ball if he has to, but he’d much rather be known as an excellent player who wins. When Irving and Durant are cooking, he’ll simply be the most reliable scoring option he can be to take the pressure off.

Dinwiddie is who he is. He’s outspoken, but perfectly willing to contain himself on the court if it results in a victory, or ruin his own numbers in order to maximize a minute chance at scoring — his 30.8% from three represents plenty of heaves and contested end-of-shot-clock opportunities that other players would selfishly eat.

Though the Nets’ third piece appears to be as skeptical of a 2020 return as his teammate Irving is, that doesn’t mean he won’t be back with a fervor when the games resume next season, with an entirely new goal.

Don’t let Dinwiddie’s purchase of a San Antonio home distract you — he has every intention of being back, and landing once more in a perfect situation.