Spencer Dinwiddie discusses integrating with roster, unfair expectations with Lakers

Spencer Dinwiddie hasn’t been an electrifying scorer for the Lakers, but he recently discussed some of the reasons why and unfair expectations placed on him.

After the Lakers allowed the trade deadline to expire with no moves being done, Rob Pelinka mentioned looking for a ball-handling guard via the buyout market and found one, signing Spencer Dinwiddie.

Since his arrival, the Dinwiddie experience has had more lows than highs as the nine-year vet has yet to explode offensively, averaging just 4.7 points and 2.7 assists despite playing 23.4 minutes per game.

After shootaround on Monday, Dinwiddie discussed the challenges of integrating into this Lakers roster.

“Obviously you do need the generational LeBron, Luka level talent, but after that you are going to need...to be this locked-in focused, dedicated to the goal, dot-connectors, Dinwiddie said. “Sacrificial in mindset and it doesn’t mean not aggressive, it just means, hey, you may have to swing, swing and give up one of your looks and you may only shoot four times, but if you can continue to try to take charge or try to be in the right position and all this stuff, you guys can go far.

“It is technically foreign for me from what I’ve done in my career, but I feel sometimes like I’m on a Reggie Bullock role getting graded on a Spencer scale.”

Dinwiddie has the self-awareness to understand his role is smaller here and he may not put up the numbers he would like to or get a bigger role, barring more injuries on this team. There’s a pecking order and it’s unlikely he can break past the time he already gets.

That means he has to be very efficient with his time, something he hasn’t been doing with the Lakers, shooting 36% from the field. Add a career-low 4.4 field goal attempts and you can see why he’s been underwhelming in his homecoming.

The Reggie Bullock comp is interesting. On a winning team with stars and given his time on the floor, maybe double-digit points aren’t what fans should expect from Dinwiddie. Instead, eight points a night on, say, 40% shooting while going 38% from 3-point range and converting on 80% of his free throw attempts should be the numbers Dinwiddie should aim for with what’s left in the season. He has work to do given that he’s shooting 32% from deep and 78% from the charity stripe.

Scoring is needed, but on a team struggling defensively, there are other ways Dinwiddie can be a net positive. If he crashes those defensive boards and gives Anthony Davis some assistance, that would make a great impact. So far, Dinwiddie’s best highlight in purple and gold was a defensive play, with his block of Dame Lillard’s last-second shot. The rejection secured a much-needed victory with James out.

This is the home stretch of the season, and Dinwiddie was dealt a bad set of cards he’s trying to turn into a winning hand. If he embraces his role and demonstrates he is valuable to winning basketball, then both the Lakers and Dinwiddie can benefit.

If not, then this might just be a decent attempt at improving the team that didn’t lead to much of an impact.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.