Brooklyn Nets got lucky rumored Spencer Dinwiddie-Warriors trade collapsed

The Brooklyn Nets, despite a lack of draft capital due to the James Harden trade, were somehow able to add Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge over the last few days.

Their trade deadline could’ve been even more overwhelming, though, as they failed in their pursuit of a Spencer Dinwiddie trade. Players like Kelly Oubre were being discussed in a potential return package, but nothing ultimately materialized.

Oubre, who arrived with the Golden State Warriors this offseason as a Klay Thompson replacement, overcame a very poor start to eventually average 15.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on 43% shooting from the field and 30% from deep.

With Dinwiddie likely out for the remainder of the season due to his knee injury, Oubre, also a free agent after this season, would’ve given the Nets yet another quality rotation piece that can put the ball in the basket.

However, given how Oubre is a square peg that doesn’t fit into any of the round holes Brooklyn still has with how their roster is currently constructed, it’s probably for the best that this trade was never officially finalized.

The Brooklyn Nets kept Spencer Dinwiddie over Kelly Oubre

As Marc Stein wrote in the deadline’s aftermath:

"“Among the options they [the Brooklyn Nets] explored, I’m told, was sending [Spencer] Dinwiddie to Golden State for Kelly Oubre. Golden State rejected those overtures because it is still desperate to make the playoffs.“While numerous Oubre trade scenarios came up, Golden State was not going to trade him for someone who couldn’t help the team in the short term.”"

Oubre is a complete non-factor on the defensive end, meaning that the only way he could add value to the Nets is as a shooter. Unfortunately, given how he is shooting at a much more inefficient clip than he did with the Phoenix Suns last year, there is no guarantee that he turns it around before his contract expires.

Already featuring the presence of players like Jeff Green and Joe Harris, who always come into games as offensive positives and defensive liabilities, adding a third player like that into the mix could’ve been too much for the Nets to overcome on the defensive end.

When healthy, Dinwiddie is a much more complete player than Oubre, as he has the defensive chops, ball-handling, and versatility in the backcourt that the former Kansas star lacks. Giving away his Bird rights in free agency would be an egregious mistake.

Dinwiddie isn’t even a lock to return to the Nets next season, but choosing to chase him is still worth more effort than Oubre, who would almost assuredly leave the Nets at the end of this season in search of a payday.

When you acquire someone in order to have them shoot, and they are incapable of doing that at an above-average clip, that is a red flag. Oubre is a valuable NBA player in the right role, but the secret ingredient to make the Nets unstoppable is a player with almost the exact opposite skillset.

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