Spencer Dinwiddie is getting paid 1.6 million dollars this year to do his basketball stuff for the Brooklyn Nets. Now, that’s a ton of money, but for a starter-quality point guard in the NBA, that’s pennies. The Nets gave him a three-year deal back in 2016, the kind of deal that you give to players who haven’t shown much but you think can turn into something good. It worked out, and now it’s almost worked out too well, because they had to give him a 3-year, 34 million dollar deal to make sure he stuck around after he went and scored 39 last game. It’s also the kind of deal you make when you want to show to potential free-agents that you take care of your players.
Dinwiddie showed he was worth the money right away, scoring 27 as a followup to his career-high night. He was great last year, but his percentages were dipping bad by the end of the season. He’s even better now. Not chucking as many Curry-range threes, but getting to the line more and shooting way better at the rim.
Does this spell doom for D’Angelo Russell in Brooklyn? I don’t want to speculate, but that shot of him looking sad/despondent/furious/jealous/irradiated before one of Dinwiddie’s free throws tells the whole story. Or, it would, if you could read his emotions which I apparently can’t.