Spencer Dinwiddie is staying in southern California after he was seated close to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka at Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans.
Dinwiddie, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, was reportedly debating between the Dallas Mavericks and the Lakers on Friday.
Ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, Dinwiddie was dismissed by the Toronto Raptors, who had acquired him from the Brooklyn Nets for Dennis Schröder and Thaddeus Young.
Even more so than the fact that he was seated next to Pelinka, the Lakers exuded confidence in their potential to sign Dinwiddie.
Reporters in Los Angeles were informed by D’Angelo Russell that they will “get to know [Dinwiddie] soon.” From 2017 to 2019, Russell and Dinwiddie played together for the Brooklyn Nets for two seasons.
Dinwiddie could have heard a strong argument from the Mavericks. Before being moved to the Nets as part of the Kyrie Irving transaction, he was a player for them from February 2022 until February 2023. Over the course of 76 games, the 30-year-old averaged 17.1 points on 40.4 percent three-point shooting.
Dinwiddie will instead join the Lakers, who are in pursuit of Dallas in the Western Conference standings. Although his shooting efficiency hasn’t been a strength outside of those 12 months with the Mavs, it will be hoped that he can enhance their shooting.
Dinwiddie had 48 starts for the Nets this season, shooting 32.0 percent from three-point range. In 514 career games, he has a 33.1% success rate from beyond the arc.
It’s difficult to do better than playing on a team with LeBron James if Dinwiddie has to play with an outstanding passer who draws a lot of attention from the defence in order to be at his best as a shooter.
The Lakers are hoping that Dinwiddie can increase his offensive production and remove himself from the play-in conversation. With a 28-26 record, they are two games behind the Mavs at No. 8 in the Western Conference. For the sixth seed, they are 3.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings.
