The Los Angeles Lakers did not make a move at the trade deadline but wasted little time adding reinforcements once the deadline passed. Los Angeles utilized its extra roster spot to sign recently traded (and waived) point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie had to clear waivers first so the signing did not become official until Saturday. With the Lakers' next game coming on Tuesday, the team has plenty of time to get Dinwiddie comfortable in the rotation and build out lineups around him.
But where exactly is Dinwiddie going to fit in? The team still has D'Angelo Russell on the roster. If anything, Dinwiddie is more of an insurance plan for Russell once the playoffs roll around. But what about right away? Where exactly is Dinwiddie's place on this Lakers team?
Projected Lakers depth chart after signing Spencer Dinwiddie:
Starting lineup:
- PG - D'Angelo Russell
- SG - Austin Reaves
- SF - Rui Hachimura
- PF - LeBron James
- C - Anthony Davis
The starting lineup is not going to change with Dinwiddie on the roster as both Russell and Austin Reaves have been playing well as of late. As a matter of fact, this starting lineup has played quite well together and the hope is that Darvin Ham doesn't try to get too creative and change things up.
Ham has finally gone away from playing Taurean Prince so much and the results have spoken for themselves. Hachimura is the rightful starter and Lakers fans need Ham to realize that, even when Cam Reddish returns.
The only person who should be replacing Hachimura in the starting five is Jarred Vanderbilt, who will definitely be out the rest of February. Until he returns, this is the proper starting five.
Bench rotation:
- 6. Taurean Prince
- 7. Spencer Dinwiddie
- 8. Jaxson Hayes
- 9. Max Christie
- 10. Christian Wood
- 11. Skylar Mays
- 12. Jalen Hood-Schifino
- 13. Maxwell Lewis
The Lakers currently have three players — Vanderbilt, Reddish and Gabe Vincent — who are out of action due to injury. With those three on the shelf, that is how the rotation is going to shake out for the foreseeable future. Mays and below likely will not see any playing time unless it is garbage time.
Christie did not play in the Lakers' last game because of an ankle sprain he suffered on Thursday. His injury does not seem to be as severe as the trio of injured Lakers, so he can still be written in as a member of the rotation.
Prince still has to be the sixth man just because of positional need. Dinwiddie will get all of Mays' minutes (he played 17 in the Lakers' last game) and then some, likely carving into Christie's playing time as well. Expect Dinwiddie to get 20-23 minutes early on in his Lakers tenure.
That rotation is still rather thin but if the team is fully healthy you can really see how it comes together. Ham has 240 minutes to divvy up between a lot of talented players when this team is healthy Here is how a fully healthy Lakers rotation would likely look (including starters):
PG - D'Angelo Russell
SG - Austin Reaves
SF - Jarred Vanderbilt
PF - LeBron James
C - Anthony Davis
6 - Rui Hachimura
7 - Gabe Vincent
8 - Taurean Prince
9 - Cam Reddish
10 - Spencer Dinwiddie
11 - Jaxson Hayes
12 - Christian Wood
13- Max Christie
14 - Jalen Hood-Schifino
15- Maxwell Lewis
Fans may be excited about the Dinwiddie signing but he has to earn his playing time to move up the rotation. If Dinwiddie can excel during this stretch where he can fill in for injured players then he could move up. However, with his bad defending and ineffective shot-making, Ham is going to favor a healthy Gabe Vincent over him.