Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[SwisherPrice]

Eh, Dinwiddie is right, it's a different role for him. It didn't sound like he was complaining, he was just explaining that people are unfairly judging his production with the Lakers in comparison to the player he's been elsewhere but with all of LA's scorers, he's more of a "Reggie Bullock"-type of role player on that team. He wasn't taking a shot at Bullock, he was actually pretty complimentary. The full quotes for context:

https://www.latimes.com/sports/newsletter/2024-03-21/lakers-newsletter-spencer-dinwiddie-wild-postgame-comments-lakers

“Yeah of course. I think, to be completely candid, the best team I was on, so far, the farthest I’ve gone was conference finals with Dallas. We had a guy that started for us, Reggie Bullock. He would pick up 94, sometimes he’d go 0-for-3, sometimes he’s three-for-three from three or whatever. One of the things he talked about was just giving that effort, picking up 94 regardless. Obviously, I don’t necessarily pick up 94. But when you talk about plus/minus, impacting and he helped us a lot. He did the sacrificial things on that team that allowed Luka and myself and Jalen to have fun and basically just ISO everybody every play. And you know, he may or may not touch it for five times in a row. Same way with the Dorian Finney-Smith’s of the world and Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell’s. Those types of guys are what make a team really special. Obviously, you do need the generational LeBron, Luka-level talent. But after that, you are going to need, whether it’s four-through-15 or three-through-15 to be like just locked in, focused, dedicated to the goal. Dot connectors. Sacrificial in mindset and nature. And it doesn’t mean ‘not aggressive.’ It just means like, ‘Hey, you may have to swing-swing and give up one of your looks.’ You may only shoot four times. But if you can continue to try to take charges, try to be in the right position, all of this stuff, you guys can go far.”

(Let’s jump in here — Dinwiddie is articulating the value of role players to winning. A job he hasn’t really had.)

“Like I said, it is technically foreign for me from what I’ve done in my career. I feel so sometimes like I’m in a Reggie Bullock role getting graded on a Spencer scale sometimes. Where as on a Reggie Bullock scale — no shot, again, that’s my dog, like I said, he was great for us — I feel like I’m doing really well. On a Spencer scale, obviously, I’m doing [poor]. But like, I’m also not in that Spencer position either, you feel me? I came here understanding some of that was going to happen, right? I’m in good spirits and a good space. I wish we would’ve won a couple more games that we dropped. But overall, the house isn’t on fire in my mind. If you gave me 20 attempts or whatever, I’d go out there and score 30. Like, as y’all have seen throughout my career, that’s not lacking anything. You’d see more dunks and step-back threes and all the other fun stuff you’re accustomed to seeing from me.”