Veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie is returning to Dallas, having agreed to a one-year contract with the Mavericks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Dinwiddie, 31, was previously a Maverick from 2022-23 for almost exactly one year. He was traded from Washington to Dallas at the trade deadline in February 2022 as part of the return for Kristaps Porzingis, then was sent to Brooklyn at the 2023 deadline as part of the package for Kyrie Irving.
Dinwiddie played well during his first stint in Dallas, averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game across 76 outings (60 starts). He posted a shooting line of .466/.404/.788 during that time — those field goal and three-point percentages are well above his career marks.
The veteran guard was less effective in 2023/24 across 76 appearances (52 starts) for the Nets and Lakers, posting averages of 10.5 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG in 28.3 MPG while shooting .392/.337/.805.
The hope is that a return to Dallas will help fuel a bounce-back season for Dinwiddie, who still has a home in Texas and whose partner is from the state, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link). As Lewis observes, the move also reunites Dinwiddie with Irving — the two guards played together in Brooklyn from 2019-21.
The Mavericks’ interest in Dinwiddie was reported earlier this month by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and was reiterated over the weekend by Marc Stein.
The terms of the Mavs’ agreement with Dinwiddie have yet to be reported. While Dallas could technically offer more than the veteran’s minimum using the mid-level or bi-annual exception, the team doesn’t have a ton of wiggle room below the first tax apron, so a minimum-salary deal seems more likely.
Assuming Dinwiddie’s salary is fully guaranteed, he’d be the 14th Maverick on a guaranteed contract for 2024/25. A.J. Lawson, the 15th man, has a non-guaranteed deal and would need to be waived in order to make room for the club to re-sign veteran forward Markieff Morris, whose return is considered likely.
Solid pick up for the Mavs. IMO, I would have taken Dinwiddie over Payne. My guess is that he had no desire to come back to NY.
Yup agree
Dallas focusing on putting out the worst possible defensive team in the league I see
You’re crazy. After trade deadline, dallas was no.1 in defense rating. And made it to finals. Sure we lost our “best” defensive player in DJJ (even though Shai, ant and j.brown/d.white cooked him in playoffs) we added grimes (replaces green), naji (replaces djj) and klay (replaces thj). And dinwiddie isn’t the greatest defender but I rather him play over exum. Dallas took 3 steps forward and only 1 step back. They got A LOT better this offseason
Sorry but you are a homer fan if this is your take. Klay with zero knees is very poor defensively now and was a massive reason why GSW underperformed last season, so you took a step back there. Kyrie and Luka are poor defensively. Your starters are poor defensively. This is delusional. Your team is going to have to score like crazy to win at all (which they can).
I think GSW got even more better than Dallas and will end up above them on the standings table at the end of the year.
Mavs were 2nd in team defense in playoffs. When it really counts. Means they got better at end of season.
link to nba.com
I don’t even like them …..,
Right, and they no longer have that team that put up those numbers in the playoffs, so what is the point of this reply?
Please tell me why …. Who’s gone, the ones that don’t play D. You think they got worse ?? When you understand what Usay. There will be a point. Till then GFU
You’re so dumb LOL. Klay with no knees is still a better shooter and defender than thj. Check yourself before you wreck yourself clown
Sorry you’re a homer.
He knows Mavs. Solid pickup at this point.
If Mavs center can progress a little more. Especially on D. Mavs will be tough again. Lively has potential to be a solid rim protector.
Good he eschewed LA. He is better than that.
Don’t think either LA team had room for him anyway. Lakers certainly don’t
He got vet minimum
Lively is a solid player for the Mavs and all Knicks fans know how Mavs got him
finesse
Oh well, there’s always Bronny.
Not bad
I like DSJr more but they really needed some length in the backcourt and that’s the one box SD does check very well
What’s the difference between exum and dsj….. they both play defense and both can’t shoot.
Spencer played some of his best ball with Dallas, including a playoff run to the Western Finals. This is a gem of a pick-up for late July.
green, djj, hardaway> thompson, grimes , naji
Depth fo any team is a good thing. For a contender it’s even more..
if you care you will get it. It’s pretty simple.