Spencer Dinwiddie may not be part of Brooklyn’s championship chase next season.
The Nets guard has declined his $12.3 million player option for the 2021-22 season, according to Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Winfield reports that Dinwiddie, who missed nearly the entire 2020-21 campaign after partially tearing his right ACL in a Dec. 27 game against the Hornets, is “unlikely” to re-sign with the Nets.
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A source told The Daily News the combo guard wants to go home, or “wants the bag.”
“Home is the preferred destination,” the source told The Daily News. “But he wants to secure his financial future, too.”
Home for Dinwiddie is Los Angeles, where he spent the entire season rehabbing from his ACL tear at Phenom Sports Performance.
Dinwiddie is a bit of a wild card in free agency. He averaged 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game in his last full season with Brooklyn, but he hasn’t been particularly efficient throughout his career (41.0 percent on field goals, 31.8 percent on 3-pointers). As for any health concerns, the 28-year-old has been cleared for all basketball activities, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Nets free agent Spencer Dinwiddie has been fully cleared for all basketball activities, his operating surgeon Dr. Riley Williams says. Dinwiddie recovered from a partial ACL tear in just over five months. He enters free agency as one of the top point guards on the market.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2021
If Dinwiddie is set on joining either the Clippers or Lakers, the Nets could send him to Los Angeles as part of a sign-and-trade. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks hinted at that possibility during his end-of-the-season media availability.
“We’ll deal with Spencer when the time comes,” Marks said. “Obviously Spencer has put himself in a position to secure his future long-term. We’d obviously love to play a role in that, whether that’s here or whether we can help him. But we’ll focus on that at a later date.”
Beyond LA, Winfield mentioned the Mavericks as a team with interest in Dinwiddie.