Why can’t Spencer Dinwiddie be a superstar franchise player?

[Paul Gasol]

This thread had to be made at some point…

[SleepingHero]

The "why can't _____ be a superstar franchise player" thread title is cursed.

[Paul Gasol]

The "why can't _____ be a superstar franchise player" thread title is cursed.

Perhap, perhap not, but the way he’s been playing so far has eased my worries about replacing Brunson should he leave…

[Paul Gasol]

Just for reference, post all-star break he’s averaging 19.3 / 5.3 / 2.3 in 27mpg on shooting splits of 62/54/71

Obviously not sustainable, but not too shabby at all, and the eye test tells me he’s making good things happen, where once upon a time they didn’t…

I’m in!

[dmavs4life03]

UGHH!! YOU GUYS JUST BLEW IT!!       Almost every time someone makes this thread; said player falls off lol. Im blaming you!

[Paul Gasol]

UGHH!! YOU GUYS JUST BLEW IT!!       Almost every time someone makes this thread; said player falls off lol. Im blaming you!

If I knew how to post a .gif, I’d post a “my life is yours” one, but alas, I’m ashamedly analogue…

on the real though, what’s the argument against Spencer Dinwiddie right now?

[ThisIStheYear]

Purge this thread! We must have a ceremony to vanquish it forever before the curse takes hold.

[F Gump]

on the real though, what’s the argument against Spencer Dinwiddie right now?

SD's a good fit, playing well. It helps a lot that he is BIG for a PG, which means the Mavs aren't giving up lots of size when they play more than 1 PG at a time (he's 6-5).

The question marks with SD have been whether he still has the burst needed to get to the rim, after the knee injury, and whether he can shoot a decent pct (especially from 3) to keep defenses honest. On both counts, so far so good.

IMO his biggest value will be in having a 3rd player (to complement Luka and JB) that can attack the rim and create offense, because when someone is off (like Luka the last 2 games for long stretches), there's another way to create some offense. Plus, the opponents' best defenders can't defend everyone at the same and can only play so minutes. I think last night we saw the value of having that 3rd guy, because the Lakers decided to focus on Luka and SD, and this time JB was the killer throughout.

This reminds of many years ago with Dirk, Fin, and Nash and the ongoing truth that at least one of them would draw the least attention and would have a really good game, but you never knew in advance who it would be.

[ItsGoTime]

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that SD drive in the paint then pass to s wide open DFS at the rim as the defense collapsed on him. THAT is how you get easy buckets! Really hope to see lots more of that with ALL the ball handlers on the team!!!

[Kammrath]

I can't believe how wrong I was about SD. Dude is exactly what this team needs. Wow. Well done front office, well done.

[Jommybone]

I can't believe how wrong I was about SD. Dude is exactly what this team needs. Wow. Well done front office, well done.

Have to wonder if all those blaming Cuban for this “amateur” GM move will (a) give him credit or (b) assume Nico made the call.

[Paul Gasol]

Have to wonder if all those blaming Cuban for this “amateur” GM move will (a) give him credit or (b) assume Nico made the call.

It’s impossible to say one way another, but this smells awfully like “more luck than judgement”…

Still, I’m not complaining; his presence on the team (assuming current performance level) has raised our ceiling no end.

[Dahlsim]

IMO his biggest value will be in having a 3rd player (to complement Luka and JB) that can attack the rim and create offense, because when someone is off (like Luka the last 2 games for long stretches), there's another way to create some offense. 

Dinwiddie, Brunson looks right as Luka support. You'd like one of your stars on the front line but Luka's ability to play big is Lebron-like so it may work as long as he has all star caliber play to support him for stretches.  
They don't necessarily need to make all star teams but similar to Jrue Holiday for the Bucks last season, they need to provide stretches at that level of superior play. 

Feels like a real potential Big 3 for Luka Magic and even the supporting cast, Powell, Kleber, Bullock, DFS. 
Cuban has to find a way through the cap hell, time to pay up and keep that competitive core in place.

[mvossman]

Have to wonder if all those blaming Cuban for this “amateur” GM move will (a) give him credit or (b) assume Nico made the call.

To be fair, we could have signed Din last offseason when this team was desperate for playmaking "with size".  Instead we signed a shoot only player to a big contract that we have been ready to get off of almost immediately (and now we have a second high priced shoot only player).  

We got very lucky that Din (and Bertans) played out the way it did in Washington, with Din a step slow recovering from injury and not fitting into their culture.  That trade has the look of dumping KP at all costs, and given we already had a shot Din and passed, I'm not ready to give out too much credit just yet.  Will be curious to see what we do next offseason.

[MFFL]

I can't believe how wrong I was about SD. Dude is exactly what this team needs. Wow. Well done front office, well done.

I'm in the same boat

SD looked terrible on a terrible Wizards team. How Nico knew that he would be back to the player he used to be is sorcery

[Winter]

I'm in the same boat

SD looked terrible on a terrible Wizards team. How Nico knew that he would be back to the player he used to be is sorcery

It's difficult to ascertain whether a player is trending in a direction or a victim in a struggling team system. I think it's much easier for a fan to assume the player is trending in a direction. Most of us thought Dinwiddie was already limited, and his injury had slowed him further. At best, we thought he might be helpful simply because he was at least going to be playing games (unlike KP). I don't think most of us understood how badly the Mavs were missing his particular skill set.

I also don't think most of us understood what the Mavericks would look like with an active player capable of driving to the basket with confidence, and why KP was never going to be the magic bullet.  There's a good article on what the Mavs gained from the Dinwiddie trade at Mavs Moneyball and is worth a read. It's all opinion, but an interesting one.

The post-Porzingis Mavericks are fun to watch in more ways than one - Mavs Moneyball

I also wonder how long the Mavericks have known that the best thing to do for the organization would be to trade KP. I suspect it's much longer than we imagine. I suspect the idea has been rolling around in 2-3 people's heads at the top for perhaps as much as a year.

[michaeltex]

I also wonder how long the Mavericks have known that the best thing to do for the organization would be to trade KP. I suspect it's much longer than we imagine. I suspect the idea has been rolling around in 2-3 people's heads at the top for perhaps as much as a year.

You are probably correct. The biggest delay had to be finding a way to get more than a bag of magic beans in return.

[KillerLeft]

SD looked terrible on a terrible Wizards team. How Nico knew that he would be back to the player he used to be is sorcery

I was 100% wrong about Dinwiddie, too, but it just goes to show how important fit is at the NBA level.

[Kammrath]

I was 100% wrong about Dinwiddie, too, but it just goes to show how important fit is at the NBA level.

Absolutely. 

And my favorite stat (On/Off +/-) really only tells you about fit WITHIN a specific team. It MIGHT predict how well a guy will fit on other teams....BUT it may not. 

For instance DB has consistently been a positive on almost all his teams...the WAS team this year was his only negative since his rookie year. So it was a fair bet that he would find a way to fit as a positive with DAL. But SD has been all over the place ranging from -6.7 to +4.4 (in the larger sample sizes) often times bouncing back and forth from year to year. When I looked at those numbers along with his shooting numbers and injury history I came to the conclusion that it would be unlikely he would be a positive with DAL. But I was dead wrong it seems.

[Mavsfan12]

I was 100% wrong about Dinwiddie, too, but it just goes to show how important fit is at the NBA level.

It is easy to be wrong about a player when they have deviated SOOO far from their career norms - let alone his putrid season prior to the trade.  Din HAS to regress a bit, doesn't he?  Particularly in the 3pt shooting where a career 32% shooter is shooting 45%...

Some of that has to do with how spread the floor is here, resulting in better looks (and wider driving lanes), but he is on a massive heater right now that not even his mama could think will last.

That said, if it does continue, he is going to be all-NBA and we are winning championships with a guard shooting 60/45% on high volume.  That is prime Steph Curry with better size and defense.