The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t make a trade before this season’s trade deadline. But they added a quality player to their roster via the buyout market in veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie, 30, was traded by the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday just prior to the deadline. The Raptors instantly waived him, setting the scene for L.A. to nab him on Saturday once he cleared waivers.
It’s possible the 6-foot-5, 215-pound man may not make much of a positive impact. But given his talent and skills, he could end up being an X-factor as the Lakers look to make another late-season run and reach the playoffs.
Here are five things fans should know about Dinwiddie.
His outside shooting is a mixed bag
On the surface and at first glance, it would seem Dinwiddie is a poor 3-point shooter. He has a career mark of just 33.1% from 3-point range for his career, and in 48 games with the Nets this season, he made just 32% of his attempts from that distance.
Although the Lakers have shown some improvement from downtown lately, their outside shooting is still very iffy and inconsistent, and they still rank last in the NBA in 3-point attempts per game.
However, there is some reason to believe Dinwiddie can help in that category.
In what amounted to virtually a full season with the Dallas Mavericks (they acquired him two years ago just prior to the deadline and traded him to Brooklyn last February in the Kyrie Irving deal), he actually did a good job of hitting from long range.
In 83 games with the Mavs, Spencer Dinwiddie averaged 16.8 PPG with 39% shooting from three on 5.5 three point attempts per game.
On that kind of volume, he hasn’t shot better than 33.5% from three in any of his other NBA stops. pic.twitter.com/2iZyep8RSe
— Mavs Film Room 🐴🎥 (@MavsFilmRoom) February 9, 2024
With Dallas, Dinwiddie played more off the ball alongside Luka Doncic. In L.A., he will have to produce without the ball now that he will have LeBron James, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves by his side.
He has done quite well in recent seasons in catch-and-shoot situations and from the corners.
Some interesting numbers on Spencer Dinwiddie:
— Over the last 3 years, he’s shooting 38.4% on C&S jumpers (193-for-503). On pull-up jumpers, he’s 34.2% (304-for-889).
— Career 42.0% corner 3PT shooter.
— Career 40.6% 3PT shooter in playoffs (4.9 attempts per game).
— Tristan (@TBeckmann24) February 8, 2024
Dinwiddie will likely also get some minutes as a backup ball-handling guard, especially to help preserve James, so he will also have the ball in his hands at times.
He is also effective with the ball in his hands
Dinwiddie has been criticized for questionable or even poor shot selection off the dribble, and he isn’t a good 3-point shooter off the dribble either.
However, he does have some strengths when he’s the main ballhandler.
While he’s not the best finisher at the rim, he’s pretty good in isolation situations.
*Does NOT include post-ups*
Data via https://t.co/Jj6DSCFVyP1. Kawhi is 10th (18.6—1.01) ran out of characters
2. Outside of randle and especially Westbrook these guys are all 95th+ percentile in isolation efficiency as well. Beasts.
3. Dinwiddie had 1.20 ppp in Brooklyn
— NBA University (@NBA_University) October 6, 2023
He's also been a solid halfcourt shot creator.
He's run 667 P&Rs, ISOs and Post ups, including passes, amounting to 691 points. 1.04 points per possession. pic.twitter.com/shX0mbKtpA
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) February 10, 2024
He isn’t quite the penetrator he used to be, but he’s still as much of a threat to slash to the hoop off the dribble as any other guard on the Lakers.
Spencer Dinwiddie has averaged 11.7 drives per game over his last three seasons.
Lakers' perimeter players this season:
Reaves: 8.1
Russell: 6.8
Prince: 3This is the biggest thing I am paying attention to and where I think Dinwiddie's impact/on-ball juice could be most felt. pic.twitter.com/Bx5UqOsSwH
— Alex Regla (@AlexmRegla) February 11, 2024
Dinwiddie has a robust career free throw attempt rate of 37.1%, which means he gets to the charity stripe, especially when penetrating.
Dinwiddie's self-created shooting at the rim will be a big boost to a Lakers team that has guards that play with a different style.
An element of his driving to watch for as well: he's one of the best foul drawers in the NBA on drives. pic.twitter.com/yKzGo3iQ8H
— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) February 11, 2024
Dinwiddie also has a history of posting a strong assist-to-turnover ratio. For his career, he has averages of 5.3 assists and just 1.7 turnovers a game. So far this season, he’s at just 1.3 takeaways a game.
He appears to have the ability to be a solid defender
In addition to 3-point shooting, arguably L.A.’s biggest weakness right now is perimeter defense. Russell and Reaves, at best, are mediocre defenders, and Reaves, in particular, gets abused by players who are bigger than him.
Dinwiddie may be called upon to guard wings as a member of the Lakers, and he may be able to be effective in that role.
From a defensive position standpoint (1-5), Dinwiddie’s 2.7 this season most closely aligns w/Vando (2.7) and Prince (2.8) among Lakers players.
He’s been 2.5-2.7 in recent years. He’s not been used primarily as a guard defender.
He’s been a Wing Stopper from a role standpoint.
— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) February 10, 2024
He has been effective in contesting outside shots, which should help L.A., a team that is 21st in opponents’ 3-point accuracy and 27th in opponents’ 3-point attempts per game.
Dinwiddie gets a lot of crap for his defense. But his D against outside shooting has actual been very good. With AD to help in the paint this could work well. Lakers struggle giving up too many open 3s pic.twitter.com/IY1nKfHfI9
— Lakers Globally (@LakersGlobally) February 10, 2024
No one should expect Dinwiddie to be a bona fide defensive stopper. But if he’s engaged and used correctly, he could help his new team on that end of the floor at least a little.
He has previously played with four current Lakers players
During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, Dinwiddie played alongside Russell in Brooklyn, and the two should have solid chemistry together.
D'Angelo Russell x Spencer Dinwiddie connection
S/o Brooklyn 🫡 pic.twitter.com/uRqrLWNeei
— UNO (@nowxuno) February 12, 2024
In 53 games with the Mavs last season, Dinwiddie also got to play with Christian Wood, and early in the 2021-22 campaign, he played some games with Rui Hachimura as a member of the Washington Wizards.
Prior to that, he played a season and change with Taurean Prince as well while still with the Nets.
He is a big fan of the late Kobe Bryant
On Thursday, the Lakers unveiled a statue dedicated to Bryant’s memory, and perhaps it’s only fitting their newest addition was a big fan of the Black Mamba.
Dinwiddie grew up in the Southland (he attended William Howard Taft Charter High School in the San Fernando Valley), and Bryant meant a lot to him.
Spencer Dinwiddie on Kobe Bryant 💜 pic.twitter.com/fSdgQISet8
— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) February 10, 2024
The day Bryant died in a tragic helicopter crash, Dinwiddie got emotional when he talked about the time the Lakers legend praised his play.
A tearful Spencer Dinwiddie described the moment Kobe Bryant told him he was playing like an All-Star and why it meant everything to him. pic.twitter.com/aImCiSRpM2
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) January 27, 2020
Perhaps playing for Bryant’s former team will bring the best out of Dinwiddie.
