Spencer Dinwiddie Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Rumors: Miller, Sixers, Dinwiddie, Irving

March 5th, 2018 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The small forward spot continues to be a nagging problem for the Raptors, as Michael Grange of SportsNet details. Two-way player Malcolm Miller got a chance to start on Sunday with OG Anunoby sidelined by a sprained ankle, though he only played 14 minutes. Norman Powell has struggled for most of the season, Grange adds. “That position is probably going to be fluid,” coach Dwane Casey told Grange and other media members. “We’ll keep looking at different people. It’s a situation where we’ve got to get a lot of people ready and this is an opportunity to do that.”

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

The owner of the Sixers’ Wells Fargo Center will pump $250MM into the building for renovations, Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Comcast Spectacor will make those upgrades over the next three summers, with about 21,500 seats being replaced without affecting any Sixers games. The company chose that plan over tearing it down and building a new facility on the same lot, Fernandez adds.
Nets forward DeMarre Carroll has challenged point guard Spencer Dinwiddie to figure out how to coexist with D’Angelo Russell, he revealed to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Dinwiddie hasn’t come close to matching the numbers he put up with Russell sidelined by a knee injury and Carroll is trying to shake Dinwiddie out of his funk. “What toes are you going to step on if you’re helping the team?” Carroll told Lewis. “That Spence was helping our team win a lot of games, so it’s not stepping on toes. … That’s why all of y’all have grown to love Spence, because of the way he’s been playing, attacking the goal, playing with a chip on his shoulder. He’s just got to get back to that Spence, playing like he’s got a chip on his shoulder.”
Kyrie Irving has emerged as a stable, consistent leader since he was traded to the Celtics, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBCSports.com opines. Irving has embraced the concept of doing whatever coach Brad Stevens asks of him even if it adversely affects his statistics, Blakely concludes.

New York Notes: Ntilikina, Rebuild, Russell, Dinwiddie

February 22nd, 2018 at 9:11pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Knicks kicked off the second half with a 120-113 win over the Magic in Orlando. As planned, the trio of Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Trey Burke shared the backcourt duties with veteran Jarrett Jack taking a DNP. Burke contributed 26 points in 29 minutes while Ntilikina (29 minutes) and Mudiay (22 minutes) also tallied significant time.

While the acquisition of Mudiay at the deadline signaled the Knicks’ plan to acquire young talent, the 19-year-old Ntilikina should not worry about his standing with the team, Al Iannozzone of Newsday writes.

“You look at Frank right now and he’s a great defender for a 19-year-old kid,” Hornacek said. “The offense will come — his speed and strength, all that stuff. You can’t expect a lot more from a 19-year-old kid. So he’s been great.”

The Knicks have made it clear that the second half of the season will revolve around young players and essentially auditioning for the future. Ntilikina is as strong a part of that future as anybody on the roster.

Check out other NBA news out of New York:

A solid early start to the season fooled many into thinking the Knicks could make a run at the playoffs. With 22 games left, the postseason is all but ruled out and the team must now focus on the future, Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes. Sloppy play on the road and numerous injuries stalled what looked to be a promising season in the first two months. “You still go back to, ‘It’s kind of a long-term plan.’ We got off to a good start, maybe changed everyone’s thoughts. But they were home games, we knew we had a long way to go,” Hornacek said.
D’Angelo Russell made his first start for the Nets since mid-November on Thursday and the plan to have him and Spencer Dinwiddie share the backcourt is in full-swing, Brian Lewis of the New York Post relays. “We’ve started to do it more, get a sample size. It’s something similar to Jeremy [Lin] and D’Angelo in the beginning,” Atkinson said. “I do like that. I do like having two guards that can really handle the ball.”
Michael Scotto of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended) takes a look at Sean Marks‘ reign as Nets general manager and the organization’s transformation in two years under Marks’ watch.

Central Notes: Nance, Dinwiddie, Bulls

February 18th, 2018 at 3:38pm CST by marksuleymanov

Less than two weeks after he was shipped to the Cavaliers, Larry Nance Jr. was back in Los Angeles for the Dunk Contest. Nance spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Lakers and admitted to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register that the trade still has not set in.

“It’s something that’s still kind of shocking,” Nance said. “But at the same time I can’t wait for all this to be done with so I can just get back to learning how to gel and mesh with my new teammates.”

Nance, 25, was the runner-up in Saturday’s dunk contest as Jazz rookie phenom Donovan Mitchell took home the trophy. After the All-Star break is complete, Nance is looking forward to being in a postseason race for the first time in his career.

“I like to think of myself as a very winning player,” Nance said. “Whether we were building gradually in L.A. or not, I was trying to win every single game. It just feels right. Now that we can, we’re in it, we have a chance to win every single game.”

Check out other Central Division news and notes down below:

Spencer Dinwiddie showed off his all-around basketball talents as he captured the Skills Challenge trophy on Saturday night, defeating Bulls’ rookie Lauri Markkanen. Peter J. Wallner of MLive.com recalls that Dinwiddie was once a member of the Pistons and now has the opportunity to shine as a member of the Nets.
The Bulls do not have any representatives in the All-Star game but the team’s young talent was showcased throughout the weekend, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Kris Dunn had an impressive performance in the Rising Stars Challenge, Markkanen was the runner-up in the Skills Challenge, and Zach LaVine impressed with his analysis during the Dunk Contest — he even teased performing in it for a third time.

Atlantic Notes: Dinwiddie, Marks, Irving, Ntilikina

February 18th, 2018 at 10:24am CST by Arthur Hill

Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie added to his breakout season Saturday by winning the Skills Challenge, but it’s going to be a while before he can cash in on his success. Dinwiddie is making the league minimum of $1,524,305 this season with a team option for next season at the minimum of $1,656,092.

As detailed recently by Danny Leroux of Real GM, the three-year contract Dinwiddie signed in December of 2016 limits Brooklyn’s options. It can’t be renegotiated and extended under the latest CBA because it’s shorter than four years, and the Nets don’t want to decline the option and risk losing Dinwiddie in free agency. It would be possible to extend the deal without a renegotiation, which would get him to about $45MM over four seasons, but Dinwiddie may be able to do far better by waiting another year for free agency.

Brooklyn can offer Dinwiddie a larger extension on the second anniversary of his signing date, as the Sixers did with Robert Covington, but that wouldn’t change his salary for next season. It would also cut into the Nets’ cap ahead of 2019 free agency, when the team is hoping to be a major player.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Even though they’ll be one of the few teams with significant cap room, the Nets won’t feel compelled to make a splash in free agency this summer, GM Sean Marks tells NetsDaily.com. Brooklyn isn’t committed to a repeat of last July when it made a $100MM offer to Otto Porter, only to see it matched by the Wizards. “So what’s next,” Marks asked. “It’s not ‘We didn’t get Otto Porter so let’s go spend a lot of money in this direction, in that direction,’ knowing these are the non-negotiables that we’ve put out there on why we’re signing guys, why we’re not signing guys, stick to that plan.”
Knicks fans may find some hope in comments that Celtics guard Kyrie Irving relayed Saturday about Kristaps Porzingis, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I told him I would love to play with a big like you, man, when we played them in the beginning of the season when he came to Boston,’’ Irving said. “He’s so versatile. So I wish him nothing but the best and hope he comes back even stronger.” Irving will be a free agent in the summer of 2019, which is the next time the Knicks will have a healthy amount of cap space. Porzingis is expected to be fully healed from ACL surgery by then and could give Irving, who grew up in West Orange, N.J., a reason to consider coming to New York.
Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina will spend most of the offseason in France and doesn’t plan to play in the Las Vegas Summer League, Berman reports in a separate story. The front office hasn’t discussed the offseason with Ntilikina and may send a developmental coach to France if that happens.

New York Notes: Mudiay, Kornet, Russell, Dinwiddie

February 10th, 2018 at 11:45am CST by marksuleymanov

Acquiring Emmanuel Mudiay at the deadline on Thursday was not a shot at Frank Ntilikina but part of a plan to acquire young talent, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. General manager Scott Perry said the addition of Mudiay, a former lottery pick, gives the Knicks another talented player, which can only help Ntilikina.

“The organization is not down on Frank,” Perry said. “I’ve spoken to Frank today. We’ll continue to speak. He’s excited about it. Everyone’s committed to getting better. If you want to become a good team, you got to be resigned to adding players to our mix that will help our cause. He’s going to be fine. It’s not in any way a negative reflection on him and who we think he’s going to be. He’s a 19-year-old kid with very good tools and a lot of upside. This will help his learning process.”

The plan for Mudiay is for him to see time at both guard spots. Jared Jeffries, an ex-Knick and former scouting director for the Nuggets, commended the acquisition of Mudiay, Berman writes in a separate story. Jeffries does not agree with the consensus that Mudiay is a bad shooter — instead, he feels the former seventh overall pick is a bad finisher. If he can improve his shots closer to the rim, Mudiay can be successful, per Jeffries.

Check out other news coming out of New York:

Luke Kornet, who has spent the season in the G League, made his NBA debut against the Raptors on Friday, Berman writes. Taking the spot vacated by the departed Willy Hernangomez, Kornet became the second Knick ever to debut with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). The 22-year-old Vanderbilt project is currently on a two-way deal that allows him 45 days in the NBA before he must be added to the 15-man roster — and the Knicks have an open roster spot.
A knee injury sidelined Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell for two months, putting some ice cold water on a hot start to his first season in Brooklyn. Since his return, Russell has come off the bench and hasn’t seen consistent playing time. Both Russell and head coach Kenny Atkinson want to see the former second overall pick play more minutes and get reacclimated, writes Newsday’s Greg Logan.
While the Nets did make some moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, both DeMarre Carroll and Spencer Dinwiddie stayed put. Dinwiddie, who has burst on the scene as a productive asset this season, is so coveted by the Nets, the team turned down a first-round pick from the Cavaliers, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post details.

Windhorst/Lowe On Cavs, Clips, Dinwiddie, Hood

February 9th, 2018 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers had an eventful trade deadline, trading away six players and taking back four new ones in three Thursday trades. However, it sounds as if the team was somewhat close to making an even bigger splash. Appearing today on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that there were people around the NBA who believed on Thursday morning that the Cavs and Clippers were gaining traction on a DeAndre Jordan deal.

“The reason people thought that was because there were other teams that were engaged in trade talks with pieces that would have spun off from that trade,” Windhorst explained. “So it got to the point where the Cavs and Clippers felt like they were close enough to some sort of agreement with each other that they could begin looking to bring in third teams and that’s why I know about it.”

According to Lowe, who says that the Cavaliers were never willing to send the Nets’ 2018 first-rounder to the Clippers in exchange for Jordan, talks between Clevleand and L.A. never got into “the red zone.” Still, Windhorst says that the two teams got at least “some distance down the road” before the Cavs opted to make other deals and the Clippers decided to keep Jordan.

Here’s more from Windhorst and Lowe:

The Nets were asking for “a lot” in return for Spencer Dinwiddie, according to Lowe, who says the Cavaliers explored a trade for Dinwiddie that involved Cleveland’s own 2018 first-rounder. Such a deal would have had the added benefit of improving the value of Brooklyn’s first-rounder for the Cavs, the Nets’ asking price was too high for Cleveland.
According to Lowe, Avery Bradley‘s asking price for his upcoming free agency is “gargantuan.” Lowe expects the Clippers guard to have to recalibrate his expectations at some point.
Lowe doesn’t think Rodney Hood‘s deal in restricted free agency this summer will be exorbitant, speculating that the Cavaliers might be able to lock him up for something in the neighborhood of $10-12MM per year.
Windhorst, who said last week that the Cavaliers had explored whether George Hill would be open to a buyout next year if they were to acquire him, clarified some details on that report. Since Hill was believed to be “miserable” with the Kings, per Windhorst, the Cavs looked into whether he’d be willing to reduce the guarantee on his $19MM salary for 2018/19 in order to facilitate a trade. That didn’t end up happening though.
Windhorst and Lowe said today there has been a lot of chatter around the NBA about the Grizzlies‘ approach to the deadline. For about 36 to 48 hours, Memphis was giving the teams the impression that they were on the verge of moving Tyreke Evans, presumably in an effort to get clubs to increase their offers, according to Lowe, who says the Grizzlies may have “out-thought themselves.”

Woj/Lowe On Blazers, Jordan, Cavs, Hornets

February 5th, 2018 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

With the February 8 trade deadline right around the corner, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski appeared this morning on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post podcast to address some rumors and discuss some trade possibilities for teams around the NBA. While Wojnarowski and Lowe didn’t drop any bombshells during their hour-long conversation, the duo did share several items of note, so let’s dive in and round up some highlights…

Although the Trail Blazers had interest in Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Wojnarowski hears that Portland has “backed away” as of late. According to Woj, it’s “entirely possible” that Jordan won’t get traded at all this week — the Clips may prefer to simply let him walk in free agency rather than taking on a bad contract or two in order to get a late first-round pick back in a trade.
Wojnarowski and Lowe discussed Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick at length, exploring what sort of deal would entice the Cavaliers to surrender that first-rounder. The duo agreed that Cleveland wouldn’t offer it to the Clippers for Jordan. In Woj’s view, it would take a Paul George-type veteran or a young star on a rookie contract to get the Cavs to part with that pick, but that sort of player isn’t really available.
The Cavaliers and Hornets have “definitely talked,” with those conversations presumed to have focused on Kemba Walker. That doesn’t mean that any deal is likely though, as virtually every team with any sort of need at point guard has checked in with the Hornets about Walker, per Wojnarowski.
Despite ongoing speculation that they’ll need to break up their star backcourt at some point, the Trail Blazers have “summarily rejected” any inquiries on Damian Lillard and/or C.J. McCollum, says Lowe. Maurice Harkless is a more realistic trade candidate in Portland, according to Wojnarowski, who says the Kings are one team that has had interest in Harkless in the past.
While the Nets aren’t necessarily looking to trade Spencer Dinwiddie, they’d have to consider it if they could get a first-round pick, according to Lowe. Woj agreed with that assessment.

Nets Notes: Dinwiddie, Harris, Carroll

January 25th, 2018 at 9:00pm CST by marksuleymanov

Spencer Dinwiddie has gone from afterthought to the Nets‘ most impactful player over the course of a calendar year. The 24-year-old was toiling in the G League last year until a phone call from Nets changed the course of his career, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports writes.

The Nets’ offer was not significant financially, but Dinwiddie recognized that he may not see another opportunity in the NBA for a long time, if ever.

“It’s very easy to be forgotten about in this league. There’s a lot of good players all over the world that, whatever reason, didn’t hit off right off the bat, and their careers paid the price for it,” Dinwiddie said. “I was told that there was no other opportunity. There was no other option. So, obviously I wanted to be in the NBA. So, I signed.”

Dinwiddie is averaging 13.4 PPG and 6.4 APG in 47 games (37 games) with Brooklyn; an opportunity that arose after injuries depleted the roster. With the trade deadline approaching, Dinwiddie’s play makes him an intriguing trade candidate. However, Dinwiddie said to WFAN’s Evan Roberts that he wants to stay in Brooklyn long term, Anthony Puccio and Net Income of Nets Daily relay.

“Honestly, my very first impression of Brooklyn was the culture of development. I thought they were very invested in the guys they chose to be a part of that,” Dinwiddie said

Check out other Nets news below:

Joe Harris, a free agent after this season, has turned his three-point shooting and scoring ability into a valuable commodity as the deadline approaches, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Harris has been a poster child for the Nets’ development strategy, but the team runs the risk of losing him for nothing after the season. Brooklyn will have to make a tough decision on Harris, who said he is not worried about his future.
After joining the Nets in the offseason as a salary dump from the Raptors, DeMarre Carroll has enjoyed a career season in Brooklyn, averaging 13.0 PPG, and a team-high 6.7 RPG and 1.9 APG. As the deadline nears, the Nets could turn a profit on a player who they took from Toronto just to acquire a first-round pick, Lewis writes.

Central Notes: Terry, Dinwiddie, Pistons, Bolomboy

January 10th, 2018 at 11:36am CST by Luke Adams

At 40 years old, Bucks guard Jason Terry is the NBA’s third-oldest player behind Vince Carter and Manu Ginobili. However, like Carter and former teammate Dirk Nowitzki, Terry wants to play at least 20 NBA seasons, which would mean continuing his career for one more year beyond 2017/18.

“Oh, yeah, I’m going to keep playing,” Terry said recently, per Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times. “Next season would be No. 20. I want to play 20 years. That’s the goal I set for myself. I’m a very goal-oriented guy and I’m going to make sure that happens.”

Terry’s desire to hit the two-decade mark in his NBA career is nothing new — he expressed the same sentiment last February. Still, it remains to be seen whether he’ll receive an NBA contract in 2018/19. This season in Milwaukee, Terry is playing less than ever, averaging just 1.3 PPG on 32.0% shooting in 15 games (9.7 MPG). Those numbers are all career worsts by a large margin.

Despite his extremely limited role, Terry has still received rave reviews from many of his younger Bucks teammates, with Rashad Vaughn telling Woelfel that the veteran guard has “helped me a lot,” while Thon Maker says Terry’s presence is like having another coach on the bench. “He’s a true professional in terms of letting us young guys know what we need to do to continue playing in this league,” Maker said. “He’ll talk to us whenever we need help.”

Here’s more from around the Central division:

Spencer Dinwiddie is having a breakout season in Brooklyn, but Stan Van Gundy, the Pistons‘ president of basketball operations, isn’t ready to concede that his front office made a mistake by letting Dinwiddie go, suggesting that the young guard isn’t the same player he was when Detroit traded him in 2016. “I’m not saying we didn’t make a mistake, but it’s not simple,” Van Gundy said, per Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. “I don’t know or not. I just know he’s playing well and I’m happy for him.”
With trade rumors swirling around the Pistons, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes that the club’s ability to earn a playoff spot and make some noise in the postseason may hinge on its ability to bolster the roster before the trade deadline.
Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days digs up a rule that helps explain why the Bucks‘ G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, will have first dibs on Joel Bolomboy if and when he returns to the G League.

Nets To Guarantee Spencer Dinwiddie’s Contract

January 7th, 2018 at 8:33am CST by Arthur Hill

Point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, in the midst of a breakout season with the Nets, will have his contract guaranteed for the rest of the year, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.

Dinwiddie has been a bargain on his $1,524,305 salary, taking over the starting point guard role and nearly doubling his numbers from last season with 13.0 points and 6.4 assists per game.

The 24-year-old also has a non-guaranteed deal for next season worth $1,656,092. Today marks the deadline for teams to waive players before their salaries become fully guaranteed on Wednesday.