The Brooklyn Nets haven’t officially ruled out the possibility of making a move at the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline, although making a move might force beloved guard Spencer Dinwiddie out of town in the name of stockpiling more assets.
Dinwiddie has played in just three games this season, averaging just 6.7 points per game in those contests, and he might not play for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Why would anyone want Dinwiddie, who could potentially become a free agent, in a trade?
Well, Dinwiddie hasn’t been officially ruled out for the remainder of the season, and the former 20-per-game scorer could become a solid tertiary scorer on a team with playoff aspirations. The Nets won’t just give him away, however, as Sean Marks is insisting on getting a player and some more tickets at the second-round lottery.
Per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Nets are asking for a role player and a second-round pick in exchange for Dinwiddie. The Nets are starving for picks after the James Harden trade, and they could replenish their stockpile in this deal.
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is available for a role player who can contribute now and a second-round pick, league sources say. Why teams over the cap could have trade interest now and why Brooklyn could hold onto him past the trade deadline on @hoopshype. https://t.co/ffqF29n0dp
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) March 19, 2021
The Brooklyn Nets want draft picks for Spencer Dinwiddie
The two teams that have been linked to Dinwiddie most frequently over the last few weeks have been the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons, who drafted Dinwiddie. While he wouldn’t make a ton of sense for a Pistons team mired in a rebuild, the Heat might actually make sense for Dinwiddie.
Not only would Dinwiddie be a solid complementary player alongside Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro, but Miami might be able to flip a role player like Avery Bradley to Brooklyn in order to get this deal done. Bradley, in particular, could be of interest to the Nets given what a quality perimeter defender he is.
In addition to the Big Three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, the amount of money tied up in Joe Harris and DeAndre Jordan means that the Nets will likely find it hard to retain Dinwiddie unless he takes a major pay cut. That could still happen, but the Nets shouldn’t assume that will happen.
Dinwiddie is an excellent scorer and defender that also serves as one of the crown jewels of Brooklyn’s player development system. Unfortunately, he might not be back in 2021-22, so trading him could at least guarantee the Nets some draft capital and role players that could help fill the void.