The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to debut veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie, whom they signed from the buyout market, on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons.
Dinwiddie brings an interesting set of skills to the table. While he can be a very inefficient shooter at times, he has also been solid as a catch-and-shoot player, and he can put pressure on opposing defenses by penetrating and hitting the open man.
He might even be able to help them a bit on the defensive end, as he has good size for a guard at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds.
It looks like he has a clear idea of what his role will be in L.A.
Via The Athletic:
“Get downhill, provide rim pressure, point of attack defense and also wing defense depending on the lineup, there’s switchability there,” Dinwiddie said when asked what his role will be. “Just come in and be aggressive, set a ton and play with high IQ. In this situation, it’s more about plugging in than dominating or something, so that’s the mentality.
“The thing I haven’t done well throughout my career is shoot off the dribble, contested, poor shot quality 3s. In some situations, I’ve been forced to do some of that in a higher percentage than good looks. So it affected overall percentage and sometimes it becomes a misnomer,” Dinwiddie said. “So the better quality looks and the more good quality looks versus bad quality looks (give me) the utmost confidence in being a big-time shot maker for this team.”
Dinwiddie has shot just 33.1% from 3-point range for his career. However, as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, he was at just over 40% from that distance, as playing alongside Luka Doncic helped him get good looks off the ball.
Playing next to LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell in Los Angeles could help him shoot a high percentage from downtown again, which would greatly help a Lakers team that lacks 3-point snipers.