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Spencer Dinwiddie headed to Washington ... but deal details still to come

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It was a one-line post-midnight after midnight that spurred thousands of others...

That was it. No details then nor in the early morning from Woj or from anyone else. Only speculation. Jake Fischer had a similar tweet 14 minutes after Woj, but again no details.

The closest anyone got was Woj’s ESPN’s colleague, Bobby Marks. In an Instagram post at 8 a.m. His bottom line was twofold: there’s still a lot of work to do on the S&T and the Nets have a lot of leverage as well. Overall, Bobby Marks liked the Nets signing Blake Griffin but thought the loss of Jeff Green was big.

“I think the Jeff Green signing with Denver is a killer for Brooklyn. I thought Green was one of their best players outside of the ‘Big Three.’ We’ll see what happens with Spencer Dinwiddie. I know he’s been reported with Washington but there’s still a lot of work to do as far as figuring out a sign-and-trade. Brooklyn has a ton of leverage because the Wizards don’t have cap space to sign Dinwiddie outright.”

Marks later noted the Nets are likely to get a big trade exception and seemed to hint the S&T could include a pick.

John Hollinger of The Athletic believes the Nets and Wizards are trying to engage another team, perhaps the Lakers, and reminded fans of what he wrote Monday before the opening of free agency: that the Russell Westbrook trade could be expanded beyond the Lakers and Wizards. That trade cannot be completed until Friday under league rules.

The next domino is probably Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie, whom the Nets could put into a sign-and-trade deal with another team – such as the Wizards – if DeAndre Jordan could be part of the deal. In Washington’s case that’s actually possible, as a Dinwiddie trade that paid him in the $18 million a year range on a three-year deal and included Jordan could be executed for Kyle Kuzma … if, and only if, the Wizards can stuff it into the already-completed, but not official ’til Aug. 6, four-team Russell Westbrook trade.

The Athletic’s Danny Leroux and Fred Katz proposed a number of ways it could get done, but like Hollinger, they kept coming back to a multi-team deal.

Possibly the easiest way to do this is to include Dinwiddie in the yet-to-become-official Russell Westbrook trade with the Lakers, which is already a three-teamer, since it includes the Pacers sending Aaron Holiday to D.C., too. Westbrook’s salary is so massive that the Wizards could loop Dinwiddie in with up to a $19.5 million 2021-22 salary and the money would still work.

But what is the Lakers’ incentive to help the Nets, a team they could meet in the Finals next year, when they have already agreed to a deal with Washington and Indiana? Could they ask for something in addition to what they are already receiving to get this done?

While many fans are hoping for a big haul from an S&T, the general impression among pundits is the Nets are unwilling to take on contracts that would dramatically increase their luxury tax payments. Moreover, if the Nets want to dump DeAndre Jordan, the Nets might have to give up assets.

Sean Marks hinted about his thinking early Monday morning in a Zoom call with media. As Greg Logan noted...

Dinwiddie made his decision, but the Nets figured to still face an enormous luxury tax as a result of any sign-and-trade deal. “How we spend that money and how much luxury tax we go into, you know, we’ve already got the commitment from Joe Tsai that we’re going for it, we’re in,” Sean Marks said. “We’re not going to take shortcuts at this stage. At the end of the day, I’ve got to be responsible . . . in how we build the team, not only looking at the next few years but four, five, six, seven years down the line as well.”

How soon might we learn details? Probably not anytime soon. Dinwiddie is still in Los Angeles and there’s a lot of complicating factors. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, there were reports from Billy Reinhardt and Marc Stein that the Nets are interested in signing Patty Mills, as are the Lakers. Mills is in Tokyo with the Australian national team.

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