Spencer Dinwiddie signed a three-year, $54.3 million deal with the Washington Wizards last summer. Yet, the three-year pact lasted just three months before the Wizards shipped Dinwiddie to the Dallas Mavericks in a trade.
Dinwiddie had worn out of his welcome in Washington. Reports surfaced he had drawn the ire of his teammates, and they wanted him gone.
Dinwiddie played his seventh game in a Mavericks uniform Saturday night. He scored a season-high 36 points in a 114-113 win over the Sacramento Kings. Following the game, Dinwiddie candidly opened up about his ousting from Washington.
“I think that’s what hurt the most,” Dinwiddie said per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I’ve never bashed Washington. I’ve never said an ill thing about the team…”
Dinwiddie went on to thank Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, GM Tommy Sheppard and star player Bradley Beal for collectively giving him his contract despite coming off a torn ACL.
“I’m appreciative of that, appreciative of my time there,” Dinwiddie continued. “So to be bashed out on the way out the door hurt my feeling for sure. I think I’m human of course.”
The Wizards traded Dinwiddie and the bloated contract of forward Davis Bertans to the Mavericks for oft-injured Kristaps Porzingis and a protected second-round draft pick. Washington made two additional trades to help clear out the locker room of a perceived dissension.
Following the trades, Wizards guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said “egos” were to blame for the team’s struggles.
Meanwhile, Dinwiddie has received praise from the Mavericks in his first month in Dallas. Saturday’s game was his third straight with at least seven assists. His sharing the ball is particular considering the Wizards had a knock for their lack of ball movement.
“When the role changed and they wanted me to pass more — they felt like i Was scoring a lot — I did that,” Dinwiddie said of the Wizards. “I took my foot off the gas scoring-wise because that’s what they felt — the team needed to get [Kyle Kuzma] and [Caldwell-Pope] and those guys shots. I said, ‘Look I already got paid. This is about y’all trying to get shots that y’all need, whatever.”
Dinwiddie’s comments are strong. But from a bird’s eye view, his comments had evidence. It was clear Dinwiddie and Beal didn’t have the preferred chemistry of backcourt mates. As the season went on it was also clear Dinwiddie was not as aggressive as needed.
Initially his knee injury was blamed. But it became obvious there was more to the story. Still Dinwiddie maintains he refused to talk bad about the Wizards.
“So to get kind of kicked out the door was a wild feeling,” Dinwiddie continued. “I hadn’t really experienced that before. But I still have nothing ill to say other than, yes, it hurt my feelings.”
Dinwiddie has already raised his scoring average with the Mavericks, averaging 17.6 points since the trade.
“So far, it’s a great fit,” he said. “I love what they ask me to do here, which is get in the paint and I’m going to continue to do that and continue to try to be of service.”
