Dallas Basketball

What Will Spencer Dinwiddie's Role Be This Season for the Mavericks?

The combo guard has multiple roles to play for the Mavericks after his re-signing.

Keenan Womack

Jan 7, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) in action during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jan 7, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) in action during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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When Spencer Dinwiddie re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks this offseason, his role was clear in that Dallas needed an additional ball handler to take pressure off of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, whose minutes played were amongst the top for a duo in the NBA last season. As good as the two were, the wear and tear of playing 37.5 minutes (Doncic) and 33.8 minutes (Irving) nearly every night is something that had to be addressed.

Adding Klay Thompson helped with this problem to an extent in that it takes the pressure off of them from a scoring perspective, but Thompson is not a primary ball handler and will play the wing spot for Dallas. They needed to add someone who could make plays with his handle, and they did so when they brought back the former Maverick.

READ MORE: Mark Cuban Thought Kyrie Irving Was 'Team Killer' Before Trade

Outside of this new addition and the two members of the starting backcourt, the Mavericks really only have Dante Exum and Jaden Hardy as players who can move with the ball in their hands, and neither is a particularly reliable playmaker at the position despite their ability to handle. Though Dinwiddie only averaged 2.4 assists last season, he has a career average north of five per game and can create offense when playing the lead initiator spot.

But on this Mavericks team, he may be needed off the ball just as much as he is on the ball. With a player like Irving who can play point guard as well (and played point guard up until his time in Dallas), typically when Doncic is on the bench, they may need Dinwiddie to play the shooting guard spot and be a secondary facilitator when playing off the ball.

While his shooting off the catch hasn't been the best recently (35.6% on assisted threes last season according to Synergy Sports), he is still hovering around league average, and therefore an effective enough shooter to at least make opponents respect the attempts.

While it's impossible to replace the production that the two starting guards provide, the Mavericks must have a combo guard who can both create for himself off of the dribble as well as create for others, a skill lacking with the other reserves at that position.

Though it could be an even split between shooting guard and point guard, it's more likely that Dinwiddie leans toward the two-guard spot because Doncic and Irving are such adept leads. Still, it must be considered that Dinwiddie plays as an option off the bench and potentially runs the second unit as the primary ball handler.

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks Media Day and Preseason Information

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Keenan Womack
KEENAN WOMACK

Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.

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