The Los Angeles Lakers no longer appear in position to add a big-name free agent to the roster this summer because clearing the necessary cap space will prove difficult and most of the splash players have already signed elsewhere.
That doesn’t preclude L.A. from making a trade for a third star, either in the coming months or ahead of next February’s in-season deadline. Thus, in lieu of a major move in the present, the Lakers have turned their collective eye toward quality perimeter players who can aid in ball-handling duties and guard against more injury issues for point guard Gabe Vincent.
Jovan Buha and Shams Charania of The Athletic have reported that Los Angeles is looking hard at two players in particular — Spencer Dinwiddie, who was a member of the Lakers roster last season, as well as Gary Trent Jr., most recently of the Toronto Raptors.
“Gary Trent Jr. and Spencer Dinwiddie are two names to watch for if the Lakers clear enough space to use their taxpayer midlevel exception [MLE], according to league sources,” Buha and Charania wrote in an article published on Sunday, July 7. “The Lakers’ roster stands at 15 players, meaning they need to make a consolidation trade if they want to open up a new roster spot.”
Spencer Dinwiddie Joined Lakers for Stretch Run Last Season
GettySpencer Dinwiddie, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The taxpayer MLE is worth only $5.2 million, which will limit significantly the pool of players L.A. can target, assuming the franchise makes the low-level trade and salary adjustments necessary to open it up as a tool they can utilize to roster build.
Dinwiddie signed a three-year deal worth a total of $54 million in August 2021 with the Brooklyn Nets as part of a sign-and-trade agreement that sent him to the Washington Wizards. He subsequently played a stint with the Dallas Mavericks, during which he helped them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022.
After that, Dinwiddie returned to Brooklyn before a brief run with the Raptors. Toronto waived him at the trade deadline in February of this year, after which he signed a rest-of-season contract with the Lakers that paid him just north of $1.5 million.
For his career, the 31-year-old Dinwiddie averages 13.3 points 5.2 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game, per Basketball Reference. He is, however, a sub-par 3-point shooter at just 33.3% on 4.7 attempts per night over his 10-year NBA tenure.
LeBron James Took Discount, Giving Lakers Options
GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dinwiddie’s per game averages dipped upon joining the Lakers for 28 games to end the season. He put up 6.8 points, 2.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 24.2 minutes of court time, which was down 3.6 minutes from his career average. However, his 3-point shooting numbers skyrocketed to 38.9% on 3.2 attempts per contest.
Much of Dinwiddie’s reduced role and production, as well as his spike in 3-point accuracy, can likely be contributed to playing alongside LeBron James, who often dominates the basketball but creates open looks for his teammates from behind the arc. It was James’ decision to take a moderate pay cut of nearly $3 million on his new two-year contract (from $104 million to $101.356 million) that kept the Lakers under the second apron, which will potentially allow the team to maneuver for a taxpayer MLE addition like Dinwiddie or Trent.
Dinwiddie’s willingness to rejoin the Lakers is likely to depend on whether he is okay with a reduced offensive role on a team featuring James and co-star Anthony Davis, as well as his market around the league for more than $5.2 million in annual average salary and/or a multiyear contract with more total guaranteed money.
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