2. Spencer Dinwiddie
Spencer Dinwiddie just opted out of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets, becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. There is speculation that Dinwiddie wants to return home to Los Angeles and that would be great for the Lakers, who would be getting a true third-best player in Dinwiddie.
While he will be ready for the start of next season as he has already been cleared medically, the hope is that Dinwiddie’s ACL injury this season lowers his value enough where the Lakers can snag him for the mid-level exception. It is important to note that he would be taking a small pay cut by opting out and signing an MLE deal, but he would be guaranteeing multiple years and would get a bigger role.
He is a bench player in Brooklyn because of Kyrie Irving but in LA he would likely be a starter, even if Rose wouldn’t be. Sure, he may lose a bit next season but the overall value of improving his worth with a starting job will get him more money in the long run.
Dinwiddie is not just a better fit than Schroder but he is a more talented player as well. He does need to improve his three-point shooting and he has suffered from high usage rate syndrome at times as well but he is someone who can actually step up as the third scorer while providing decent facilitating as well. He is also better defensively.
Dinwiddie is not a playmaker and facilitator by heart but he is someone who will take some of the attention off of Anthony Davis and LeBron James and should not be as big of a ball-stopper as Schroder was.