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Spencer Dinwiddie stays put as Nets have quiet trade deadline second year in a row

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Brooklyn Nets v Los Angeles Lakers Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images

The bottom line is the trade deadline is: Spencer Dinwiddie remains a Net. The rest is punditry, analysis and speculation.

For the second straight year, the Nets did nothing at the deadline, All the Dinwiddie trade rumors came to naught. Indeed, Sean Marks last deadline deal was in 2019 when he sent cash considerations to the Raptors for Greg Monroe and a second rounder (that Brooklyn ultimately used to acquire Bruce Brown).

Meanwhile, the Nets competitors both for the Eastern Conference crown and the Lawrence O’Brien Trophy made a number of moves, The analysis of whether any moved the needle is mixed. Here’s a quick summary:

—The Miami Heat acquired point guard Victor Oladipo from Houston and small forward Nemanja Bjelica from Sacramento giving up only Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and a pick swap to Houston and Moe Harkless and Chris Silva to Sacramento. They also may acquire LaMarcus Aldridge who was bought out by the Spurs (and had previously acquired Trevor Ariza. However, they failed in the pursuit of Kyle Lowry as the Raptors decided to keep him.

—The Boston Celtics acquired guard Evan Fournier, from Orlando and big men Mo Wagner and Luke Kornet from Chicago while giving up Jeff Teague and two second round picks to the Magic and Daniel Theis and Javonte Green to the Bulls.

—The 76ers acquired George Hill from Oklahoma City and Iggy Brazdeikis from the Knicks. in a three-team that cost them back-up center Tony Bradley and a pair of second rounders. But they, like the Heat, failed to trade for Lowry.

—The Bucks and Lakers made no significant moves while the Clippers were able to acquire Rajon Rondo for their playoff run, trading away Lou Williams to Atlanta along with two second rounders.

And so Dinwiddie, who has been in trade rumors almost as often as Aaron Gordon (who was finally moved), will remain on the Nets roster through the end of the season. As the deadline approached, Dinwiddie tweeted this...

As Greg Logan points out, the next line in the video is, “They’re going to need a … wrecking ball to take me out of here!”

The 28-year-old has been rehabbing a partially torn ACL in southern California, updating his progress on almost a daily basis. Here’s the latest from Thursday morning.

He was hurt the Nets third game well before the James Harden trade. Although he’s been declared out for the season, Dinwiddie has rejected that notion, believing that he can get back on the court before the post-season. The Nets aren’t holding out much, if any hope.

“I haven’t messaged with him for a few weeks now. He’s in LA,” said Nash of Dinwiddie ten days ago, “I’m very hesitant to comment on (Dinwiddie’s return) because my number goal is Spencer’s career, his long-term health.

“I don’t wanna dampen any dreams or goals that he has. At the same time, my No. 1 goal for Spencer is more important than our team. It’s for him to get to 100 percent, his health, and to have a long and successful career after this injury. That’s my number one goal, that’s all I’m thinking about whenever he’s ready to come back to basketball, I’ll be happy. But hopefully, it’s in a really safe and well-thought-out timeline.”

The Nets are now expected to pursue buyout candidates, starting with Andre Drummond, the NBA’s leading rebounder three of the last four years. They’ll have competition, according to various reports, from the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks and maybe the Celtics and Mavericks. The Nets do have two exceptions of $5 million to offer Drummond, more than the Lakers, but less than the Knicks who have $15 million in cap space.

J.J. Redick who most NBA writers thought would end up in Brooklyn, where he lives in the off-season, instead by traded to the Mavs by the Pelicans. Other buyout candidates include Gorgui Dieng, if bought out by the Grizzlies; Avery Bradley, if bought out by the Rockets, and Hassan Whiteside if bought out by the Kings. Otto Porter Jr., traded from the Bulls to the Magic in the Nikola Vucevic trade, reportedly doesn’t plan to seek a buyout. Other, lesser players are likely to be released in the next few days as teams sort out their rosters.

The Nets currently have 13 players on standard NBA deals; two two-ways in Reggie Perry and Chris Chiozza and Alize Johnson on a 10-day. Indeed, the only change to the Nets situation in the past 24 hours was Johnson showing he’s an NBA player with a 23-point, 15-rebound game vs. the Jazz Wednesday night.

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