Spence Dinwiddie has been a productive player in the NBA for a long time, and he still has the skills to be an important piece on a championship team. He is versatile and willing to take on any role the Dallas Mavericks need him to play, which could vary on any given night.
He returns to a franchise with which he put up career numbers (17.1 points and 4.9 assists per game) and was the third-leading scorer during the 2022-23 season. This time around, he is not going to be asked to carry a heavy workload and instead will be a highly valuable Swiss Army knife off the bench.
"It is all about filling in the gaps. If we need pace and Luka is tired, maybe I do that. If we need spot-up shooting because Kyrie is cooking, I will do that. If Klay is cooking and I need to pass him the ball, then I will do that," said Dinwiddie. "If all three are rolling and I have to play defense, we saw that with the Lakers the last 15 to 20 games of the season. They relied on me as the end-of-game stopper. Just doing whatever it takes to win."
Dinwiddie has become an underappreciated asset in the NBA, as he is not worth much to teams that are not in contention. Last season, the Nets traded him to the Raptors, and then they immediately released him before he signed on with the Lakers. As an aging veteran, he had very little value to the other two teams but was very useful in Los Angeles, averaging over 24 minutes in the regular season and over 14 in the playoffs.
"When you have been in the league this long you want to play meaningful basketball," said Dinwiddie. "Probably the most consistent basketball I have played is in a Mavs jersey, the farthest I have gone in the playoffs is in a Mavs jersey, and ironically, about six months ago, I bought my family home in Dallas."
Hopefully, this can be a successful reunion, and Dinwiddie can be Dallas's primary guard off the bench all season long. If he fills that role, he is an absolute steal at his price.
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