The Los Angeles Lakers‘ offseason has been as quiet as any team in the NBA. Not making any moves to improve their roster, the Lakers have a long way to go if they want to compete in the Western Conference after losing in the first round with essentially the exact same roster last season.
Having 15 players on the team and being slightly under the second apron presents challenges for the Lakers, which Rob Pelinka will have to figure out. If the Lakers want to sign a free agent, they’d have to release a player or make a trade.
If they do that, they could be in a position to have the tax payer midlevel exception, which would give them more money than a minimum contract to sign a player. If they were to get rid of more than one, the Lakers could be in the market for a veteran minimum type of player to improve the team on the margins.
That’s exactly what Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report took a look at on July 18. Buckley listed three players Los Angeles should pursue on minimum contracts, including Spencer Dinwiddie, who was on the team last year.
“The 6’5″ veteran provides good size from the lead guard spot and a decent blend of downhill scoring and distributing, ” Buckley wrote. “He has never been the most consistent outside shooter, but he has engineered some encouraging stretches. In fact, he converted 38.9 percent of his long-range looks in those 28 contests with the Purple and Gold.
“The Lakers could covet backcourt depth given D’Angelo Russell’s recent playoff woes and Gabe Vincent’s trouble staying on the court. They already tasked Dinwiddie with providing that once and could presumably have interest in doing it again.”
Lakers ‘Expected to Have Interest’ in Dinwiddie
Dinwiddie was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Toronto Raptors, who then waived him before he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last season.
After playing 28 games for the Lakers, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that the Lakers are interested in bringing him back. Scotto also wrote that the Dallas Mavericks, who he played for as recently as the 2022-2023 campaign, have an interest in him, too.
“Now, the Lakers and Mavericks are once again expected to have interest in Dinwiddie again as he enters free agency, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto wrote on June 30.
How Dinwiddie Could Help the Lakers
As the Los Angeles Lakers saw with Dinwiddie playing 24.2 minutes per game for them in the second half of last season, he’s going to be a veteran who could give them decent minutes.
While he didn’t play as well as they might’ve hoped for, averaging just 6.8 points per game, Dinwiddie has proven to be a reliable scorer during parts of his career.
His 6.8 points per game average was the lowest of any stint in his career where he played more than three games since the 2015-16 season, which was his second year in the NBA.
If Dinwiddie could return to scoring 10-plus points per game and shooting above 39.0% from 3-point range on more than 4.0 attempts per game, he could make an impact off the bench.
However, with other glaring issues on their roster, it might be best to explore other options for now.
Jon Conahan covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. Since 2019, his sports coverage has appeared at Sports Illustrated, oddschecker, ClutchPoints and Sportskeeda. More about Jon Conahan
