The Los Angeles Lakers were one of the most inactive teams before the trade deadline making no trades that would bring about additions to the team, a bold move that had the Lakers fraternity in splits.
However, the team acted swiftly to grab veteran Spencer Dinwiddie from the buyout market just a few days after the deadline. The veteran presence on the team through Dinwiddie will strengthen their roster depth as he will be a key mentor for the Lakers’ young core.
Spencer Dinwiddie’s Lakers promise fulfilled
As the dust from the storm of the trade deadline settled down, the Los Angeles Lakers announced earlier today the acquisition of veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie to reinforce their existing roster, combining aggression and experience.
The Lakers acquired Dinwiddie from the highly challenging buy-out market after he was waived from the Toronto Raptors. The Purple and Gold are bringing Dinwiddie to LA, signing him for 1.5 million for the remainder of the season.
The team were able to complete the deal without any stumbling blocks by offering the vet more than the basic minimum contract which was possible due to the team not using their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Gabe Vincent who has barely appeared for the team this season.
The buyout deal also marks the fulfillment of Spencer Dinwiddie’s promise which he made via Twitter, eleven long years ago. On October 15, 2013, Dinwiddie took to Twitter exclaiming, “Just be patient Lakers I’m coming lol.”
While it only took eleven years to fulfill his promise, Dinwiddie has established himself as one of the most fluent guards in the league, with a renowned ability to run the floor of teams effortlessly. And the move certainly eases the pressure on superstar LeBron James who has been forced to play at point guard for the team. Now, with Dinwiddie as their facilitator, the Lakers can be expected to be more aggressive on offense and a bit more structured on the defensive end of the court.
Various Lakers personnel comment on Spencer Dinwiddie signing
Executives and players have expressed their happiness and eagerness to see Spencer Dinwiddie in the Lakers uniform, due to his elite skill sets which have only elevated every team he has played for.
The player’s track record of boosting teams has drawn the attention of Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis who spoke on the efficient attributes the player brought to the team. The King said, “Playmaking, another ball handler, another shot-maker. Another guy, another veteran. He creates plays, has good ball handling and makes important shots. Any time you can add a veteran with that ability, it helps. So we’ll see what happens.”
Adding on to what the Lakers legend said, co-superstar Anthony Davis said, “He is a very big point guard, he makes good throws and creates plays. Obviously, we’ve seen what he did with Brooklyn, what he did with Dallas making big plays for them – he’s a well-established player.”
Across the four teams he has represented over the course of his career, the player’s best season was in the 2019-20 season where he averaged 20.6 points per game along with 6.8 assists per game and 3.5 rebounds.
This season, playing for the Brooklyn Nets, Dinwiddie was averaging 12.6 points per game, coupled along with 3.3 rebounds and 6 assists for the team. Over the course of his career, Dinwiddie has managed to consistently average 13.6 points per game with 5.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds.
Lakers front office executive, Rob Pelinka expressed his happiness on acquiring the veteran. Pelinka said, “Spencer is returning to his roots and the city where his journey began… His playmaking and aggressiveness from the guard position provides us valuable depth as we continue our strong push toward the back-half of the season.”
With the addition of Spencer Dinwiddie, the Lakers will hope for a strong resurgence in the second half of the season with hopes that they can sit on top of the NBA, a feat they are quite far from achieving at the moment, sitting at ninth in the Western Conference.
What are your thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers signing Spencer Dinwiddie? How do the team’s chances improve with this addition? We are eager to know your thoughts on the deal so feel free to comment below.
