Spencer Dinwiddie Will Reportedly Sign With The Lakers

One of the biggest names on the NBA’s buyout market has come off of the board, as Spencer Dinwiddie reportedly plans to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, per Shams Charania.

Dinwiddie was traded to Toronto at the deadline for Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young as Toronto looked to shed Schroder’s salary for next year. The Raptors then waived Dinwiddie, whose contract expired after this season, to avoid a games played bonus he was set to receive on his current deal. That put the guard on the free agent market after clearing waivers, and while there were a few teams that figured to look at bringing him in, the Lakers quickly became the frontrunners.

After standing pat at the deadline, the Lakers needed to add something to their roster, and Dinwiddie provides another ball-handler to throw into the mix along with D’Angelo Russell (and Gabe Vincent whenever he gets healthy). Dinwiddie has had a down year in Brooklyn, averaging 12.6 points and 6.0 assists per game on 39.1 percent shooting from the field and just 32.0 percent from three-point range. If he’s going to be a viable member of the Lakers rotation, those shooting percentages will need to get back closer to where they were in Dallas when he was a 40 percent three-point shooter, enjoying the space provided by Luka Doncic. His success there provides optimism that a similar role playing alongside stars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis could bring back that form, but it remains to be seen whether this signing can have a real tangible impact on L.A.’s Play-In push in the second half of the year.