The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to make some changes to their roster after seeing how far they are from competing for titles.
Despite healthy years from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers were inconsistent for nearly the entirety of the 2023-24 season. Los Angeles decided to stay pat the trade deadline but they still managed to land Spencer Dinwiddie after he was surprisingly waived by the Toronto Raptors.
Dinwiddie immediately became a fixture in former head coach Darvin Ham’s rotation, though he role ebbed and flowed down the stretch. While Dinwiddie is known as a ball-handler and scorer, Los Angeles relied on him more as a perimeter defender.
The veteran guard evaluated what it was like to be more of a defense-first player in the league and is remaining open to whatever happens in free agency.
“I think I came in, I feel like I was really selfless and bought into a role,” Dinwiddie said. “Tried to play defense to the best of my ability, tried to help out. Had some nice moments and we’ll see what the future holds.”
While Dinwiddie admitted his time back in Southern California wasn’t a boost to his career, he still is holding his head high that he did what was asked of him.
“Career wise, I can’t necessarily say there was benefit, per say. Obviously like we talked about, this wasn’t a role I normally play. I guess I got to show some defensive prowess but obviously a lot of people still expect me to do the other stuff. So we’ll see if that’s in the cards in free agency.
“Obviously we didn’t have the outcome we expected so I don’t know about professionally for now, but in general like I said, coming here in the manner that I did at the end of the year, stuff like that, it was all about buying into a role and trying to help this specific ballclub accomplish whatever we could. I think I did that, for the most part.”
Despite the role change, Dinwiddie has already said he would love to be back with the Lakers next season, so it remains to be seen if the team feels the same way.
DeMar DeRozan doesn’t rule out playing for hometown Lakers
Like Spencer Dinwiddie, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan is also from the Los Angeles area and he recently admitted he hasn’t ruled out playing for his hometown Lakers at some point.
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