Getty Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyrie Irving at Barclays Center in 2020.
After a tumultuous three and a half years together, All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving filed for a divorce from the Brooklyn Nets in the days leading up to this year’s trade deadline. The Nets were more than willing to oblige his request. Irving demanded a trade from the franchise on February 3, and on February 5, He was a Dallas Maverick. Irving got dealt in exchange for an unprotected first-round pick in 2029 and valuable role players in Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie. But Dinwiddie says that after making the trade for Kyrie, the Mavericks are in a hit-or-miss situation.
“I think it’s something that the tale of the trade won’t be told this season. You know, I think if you look at it from Dallas’ side, they got star power, right? They got another high-octane player [Kyrie Irving] to pair with Luka [Doncic]. And, you know, hopefully, it works out for them,” Dinwiddie said in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.
“If he doesn’t re-sign though, and does go to the Lakers, for example, which everybody always talks about, then it’s probably not the best move for them.”
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Spencer Dinwiddie Shares Optimism on Nets Future
The Nets were ready to move on from the Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving era and the drama that circumvented it. Even if that meant they would no longer be among the top title contenders. But the Nets received a solid group of young players, and a gargantuan number of draft picks to compensate them for the present and the future.
Even after trading away their stars, the Nets are still in contention for the playoffs. And with all the draft picks that they have hoarded, Dinwiddie believes the Nets have the assets to go and get another star.
“For the nets, I think, you know, with the moves that they made, they kind of got to restructure their roster more in line with probably who the front office and you know, ownership group kind of want to have which I think has been well documented,” Dinwiddie added.
“And they also got a plethora of picks which you know, if they want to stay in win-now mode, they’ve got a lot of guys that are in that kind of age range and caliber, and then, you take the picks you go try to find THE guy, and you know, you go from there.”
Spencer Dinwiddie Opens up About Being Traded
Dinwiddie began his NBA career in 2014, and though he is a solid player with a career average of 13.7 points and 5.1 assists per game, he can already be considered a journeyman. Dinwiddie has been traded three times.
In 2021 he was sent from the Brooklyn Nets to the Washington Wizards in a sign-and-trade on a 3-year / $62 million deal. After just half a season with the Wizards, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks at the 2022 NBA trade deadline. This season he was the centerpiece of a deal that sent Kyrie to the Mavericks. You would think Dinwiddie has grown tired of being traded, but he understands it is just part of the business.
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, for the most part, I’ve pretty much been traded twice, you know, obviously, Dallas and then back to Brooklyn.,” Dinwiddie said when asked if he was tired of being traded.
“I mean, technically speaking four times. Because DC (Washington Wizards) was a sign and trade and stuff like that, but not so much. It’s just situations where a max player wanted to go, and I was in that tier two, were like, Hey, he’s a good talent, his contract plus another contract. Makes sense. And, you know that that’s how it works.”