Spencer Dinwiddie and the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a one-year deal, according to league sources. It’s a move which reunites Dinwiddie with the team he helped to the 2022 conference finals.
Dinwiddie first came to Dallas at the 2022 trade deadline in the Kristaps Porziņģis deal, coming off the bench behind Luka Dončić and Jalen Brunson and was traded one deadline later for Kyrie Irving. What Dinwiddie’s role will be for the Mavericks when the team has a healthy roster is unclear, but there’s no question that the 31-year-old veteran can provide important floor-raising depth to the Mavericks when either of the team’s star guards miss time during the regular season. Last season, Dončić and Irving combined to miss 36 games.
Interestingly, Dinwiddie was pursued by the Mavericks following last year’s trade deadline, but he declined to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a buyout candidate. Dinwiddie gave a delightfully bizarre quote when asked for his reasoning, saying, “Let’s say you’re a kid and you get your a– whupped by the bully. Dallas would have been like your mama, like, ‘It’s OK, baby.’ … Lakers are like your dad: ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight ‘til you win.’” The Lakers lost in the first round while Dallas reached the NBA Finals.
Dinwiddie’s best shooting seasons came in Dallas, where the career 33.3 percent 3-point shooter raised his percentages to 40.4 percent across 76 games. As Dallas struggled to make above-the-break 3s during the Finals, it’s quite possible Dinwiddie would have been a rotation player against the Boston Celtics. (Granted, it’s equally unlikely it would have ultimately made much of a difference.)
Dallas spent its offseason shoring up that need, namely in the team’s acquisition of Klay Thompson. Dinwiddie adds another potential shooter, crucially one who thrives in isolation and pick-and-roll settings that the Dončić-led offense is based around.
According to league sources, Dallas had also contemplated reuniting with another guard from the team’s recent history, Dennis Smith Jr., but ultimately chose Dinwiddie as the roster’s final roster spot. It’s still possible, however, that Markieff Morris returns to the team as a locker room veteran even though the team now has 15 players. To do that, it’s likeliest that A.J. Lawson’s nonguaranteed contract would be waived to facilitate that.
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