It took a couple days, but the Washington Wizards worked out a complex sign-and-trade deal to land Spencer Dinwiddie as a free agent after pitching him on joining the organization Monday.
Because the Wizards didn't have the cap space necessary to sign Dinwiddie, they had to expand the deal struck on draft night with the Los Angeles Lakers involving Russell Westbrook to include Brooklyn as well as two other teams: the Indiana Pacers, with whom the Wizards also traded on draft night, and the San Antonio Spurs.
Because we've already graded the Westbrook trade and Washington's deal with Indiana, we'll focus here on the value for the three teams in the new part of the trade.
Wizards get: Spencer Dinwiddie
Spurs get: Chandler Hutchison, 2022 second-round pick
Nets get: 2024 second-round pick, 2025 second-round pick swap (from Wizards)
Washington Wizards: A-
Give the Wizards' front office credit for their creativity. Tacking this sign-and-trade on to the Westbrook deal cost Washington a couple of second-round picks as well as a second-round swap, but it substantially expanded the team's spending power in free agency. Had the Wizards simply completed the deals as originally struck on draft night, they would have netted out a small trade exception (worth about $4.5 million) and had the $9.5 million non-taxpayer midlevel to spend in free agency.
Instead, Washington found room to make Dinwiddie a three-year, $62 million offer. I like the timetable with Dinwiddie, who is 28 -- the same age as new backcourt-mate Bradley Beal. Dinwiddie is young enough to still have value to the Wizards if Beal ultimately leaves but also in his prime to help them compete now. Of course, this is all pending Dinwiddie's full recovery from a partial ACL tear in December that required season-ending surgery.
Because of his age, Dinwiddie was a more reasonable target for Washington than the veteran free agents on the market this summer. And I think he's simply a better player than Dennis Schroder, the next-best unrestricted point guard in his prime. As a result, Lonzo Ball was the only free agent I would've had above Dinwiddie on my priority list for the Wizards.
One key to this trade will be Dinwiddie's catch-and-shoot ability. Per Second Spectrum tracking, Dinwiddie has made 36% of his catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities in his NBA career, just below the league average of 37%. It's on 3s off the dribble where Dinwiddie has struggled, shooting just 29% on attempts the league as a whole has made at a 32% clip.
Heading to Washington, Dinwiddie won't entirely abandon an on-ball role. He'll be called on to start at point guard, filling the hole left by the Westbrook trade. Still, with Beal alongside him in the backcourt, Dinwiddie will have more playmaking support than he had for much of his time in Brooklyn. When Beal is operating with the ball, Dinwiddie's average-ish shooting will be a huge upgrade from Westbrook's.
Overall, I think the Wizards look like a stronger, deeper team than last season's group that advanced through the NBA's inaugural play-in tournament before getting dispatched in five games by the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. Don't print your playoff tickets just yet -- the rest of the East's middle class has also loaded up -- but I like what Washington has done this offseason.
Brooklyn Nets: A-
Though they dragged this out a bit, there was no reason for the Nets not to participate in this sign-and-trade, which generates a trade exception worth $11.5 million. (The exception is for Dinwiddie's 2020-21 salary, not his new one, because of the NBA's rules about base-year compensation in sign-and-trades.)
Sure, the Nets are helping out a conference rival, but the Wizards aren't really Brooklyn's concern at this point. The Nets have to be focused on winning a championship, and there are scenarios where having a sizable trade exception could be useful. Getting a second-round pick and a second-round swap option is reasonable compensation for facilitating Washington's end of things.
San Antonio Spurs: A-
To create enough matching salary for the three players coming from the Lakers (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma), Aaron Holiday and Dinwiddie, the Wizards had to include another player in the trade. (Conveniently, it also takes them out of the luxury tax.)
Because Brooklyn is deep in the tax, the Nets surely weren't willing to take Hutchison back. Enter the Spurs, recruited because of their remaining cap space after agreeing to deals with Zach Collins and Doug McDermott and striking a sign-and-trade of their own by sending DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls.
It's possible San Antonio has interest in Hutchison, three years removed from being drafted No. 22 overall by the Bulls in 2018 and entering the final season of his rookie contract. Alas, Hutchison's playing time has trended the wrong direction because he hasn't developed as a shooter. Hutchison has made just 34 3-pointers in three NBA campaigns, not good enough for a modern wing. Perhaps Spurs assistant coach and shooting specialist Chip Engelland can help.
If not, taking on $4.1 million in salary in exchange for a pick likely to fall in the middle of the second round next year is still a reasonable piece of business for San Antonio, which has just about exhausted its cap space and also now has 15 players signed to full NBA contracts.