Spencer Dinwiddie dropped an explosive podcast with former Dallas Mavericks teammate Theo Pinson as Dinwiddie explained how he believes the Brooklyn Nets tried ruining his career last season before trading him away mid-season.
“To go back to a team where you spent five years and had success at, basically lead the league in assists because they asked you to help feature their trade pieces, and then get kicked out the door. And for them to re-bring up the cancer label because of what happened in D.C., if another team doubles down it, it effectively kills your career.”
“You took me from my boys basically and then you asked me to do a very specific task, and I did it… I did what you asked of me and my reward, we’re going to kick you out the door and double-down on some sh*t that happened three years ago because if we say it, your career is over.”
Spencer’s recent years have been tumultuous ever since he left the Nets in 2021 to sign with the Washington Wizards. He fell out with the tanking Wizards in explosive fashion, getting traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the winter of 2022, playing a major role in the team’s 2022 Western Conference Finals run.
He was shipped out of Dallas after the best season-and-a-half of his career to facilitate the team’s acquisition of Kyrie Irving in February 2023, rejoining the Nets in what many believed was a feel-good story for him at the time, as he was back with the franchise he initially broke out with.
Dinwiddie averaged 16.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 9.1 assists for the Nets after being traded to them in 2023, helping them maintain their position as a top-six seed after a major midseason shuffle. He would average 12.6 points and 6.0 assists on the Nets in 2023-24 before being traded to the Toronto Raptors, who bought him out.
He went from making $20 million with a potentially significant extension on the way based on his production to making a veteran’s minimum, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in the buyout market last season and having a disappointing stint for his hometown franchise.
After an empty market for him this summer, Dinwiddie returned to the Mavericks on another veteran’s minimum and is a bench player for them now.
He’s averaging 7.8 points and 3.1 assists for the Mavs, but is showing flashes of the electric guard he was during his first stint with the team due to his chemistry with Luka Doncic and his ability to thrive in Jason Kidd’s system.
The Mavericks had no choice but to trade him in 2023 because they got Kyrie in return. Dinwiddie probably was the first name Dallas added to the trade themselves given it was an obvious upgrade that even Spencer can’t argue with, now playing as Kyrie’s backup on the Mavs.
Whether the Nets intentionally sabotaged his reputation or not is hard to verify, but it’s sad to see his near six-season relationship with the Nets be dead and buried after an incident like this. Dinwiddie’s market did get ruined because of how his time in Brooklyn ended last year, and the 31-year-old guard might not be able to recover from it.
He’s on a minimum right now, but if he can remain a rotational piece for the Mavericks as they make the Finals again or for a potential championship run, he could rediscover his lost market value in free agency next year.
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