Buffaloe's Dinwiddie bouncing around NBA
Now with Nets, point guard determined to stick
lakewood» The timing could not have worked out much better for Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Brooklyn Nets left for Denver late Thursday afternoon to start an eight-game, 16day road trip, which began with Friday night’s game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
The Nets arrived just in time for Dinwiddie, their 6-foot-6 point guard from Colorado, to make it to Boulder and watch the Buffaloes, for whom he played three seasons, play late Thursday night against Utah.
“It was actually pretty cool that the schedule just worked out perfectly,” Dinwiddie said Friday after the Nets finished their morning shootaround at the palatial Gold Crown Field House. “We flew in later than we normally do because of the trade deadline, but the (CU) game was late so it was perfect. I went back (to Boulder) during all-star break my rookie year and went back again that summer, but this was my first time back since then.”
Dinwiddie, who averaged 13 points over 86 games with the Buffs from 2011-14, returned to the Front Range as a young player who appears to be finding some footing in the NBA.
The Detroit Pistons selected Dinwiddie, who was coming off a torn ACL suffered during his junior season at CU, in the second round of the 2014 draft. After playing sparingly with the Pistons for two seasons, they shipped him to the Chicago Bulls last June.
Dinwiddie’s stay in Chicago didn’t last long. He helped the Bulls win the Las Vegas summer league with a 7-0 record, but he was cut after the preseason.
“You hear about the ups and downs, but you never know about them until you actually go through it,” Dinwiddie said. “But work ethic is just something you have to maintain throughout the whole process.”
After being waived by the Bulls, Dinwiddie played nine games in the D-League, going back
to work in relative anonymity in hopes of getting another NBA shot.
The opportunity came in December, when he was signed by the Nets. In January, they guaranteed his contract for the rest of the season.
Dinwiddie, 23, has taken advantage of the opportunity and elevated his game recently as starting point guard Jeremy Lin recovered from an injury. In the two games just before the allstar break, Dinwiddie averaged 18 points while starting at point guard.
“He’s steadily getting better,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He played pretty well before the all-star break, started shoot- ing it better and getting to the rim. We like his defense. He’s been a pleasant surprise, quite honestly. We’re looking forward to seeing more of the same.”
Lin was expected to return to the Nets’ starting lineup Friday against the Nuggets, putting Dinwiddie back into a bench role for now. But he doesn’t plan to let his role halt the momentum he believes he’s building at his third stop in as many seasons since joining the NBA.
“I just keep trying to get better every game, no matter what it is,” Dinwiddie said. “Whether it’s two minutes or 20 minutes, you’ve just got to keep grinding and keeping going and eventually you’ll break through and have bright spots. You just have to stay consistent.”