The Dallas Mavericks recently agreed to bring back guard Spencer Dinwiddie on a one-year contract to fill out their roster for the 2024-25 season. Dinwiddie spent 76 regular season and 18 playoff games with the Mavs from 2021-23 before being sent to the Brooklyn Nets in the Kyrie Irving trade.
Dinwiddie has seen what superstar guard Luka Doncic can do up close and said in a recent street interview that he believes Doncic is the best player in the NBA today. “The best player in the NBA right now… I think he should’ve won MVP this year but he didn’t, I’m gonna go with Luka Doncic.”
Doncic had a historic 2023-24 season, averaging 33.9 PPG, 9.8 APG, and 9.2 RPG while leading the Mavericks to 50 wins and eventually the NBA Finals. Despite his otherworldly statistics, he finished third in the MVP behind Nikola Jokic and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. He did win the ESPY award for the best NBA player, for whatever that’s worth.
Spencer Dinwiddie was on the Mavs team that went to the 2022 Western Conference Finals and was a big reason they dominated Game 7 against the Suns in the Semifinals. While his play with the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers hasn’t been on par with what he showed in those playoffs, the Mavericks are still hopeful he can be a useful guard off the bench who can give Doncic and Irving some rest when they need it
Dinwiddie could just be saying this to get back in the good graces of the Mavericks’ fans, though. After he was waived by the Toronto Raptors last season, he signed with the Lakers over the Mavs, comparing the Mavs to a coddling mother and the Lakers to a “tough love” dad. Once the news broke on Monday, many fans brought that quote back up and he’ll likely be asked about it whenever he speaks to the media.
