The Los Angeles Lakers watched Spencer Dinwiddie struggle to close the 2023-24 season, and he is already having issues with the Hornets. Charlotte is his fourth team in three seasons, and the 32-year-old guard was already catching social media heat in the preseason. He finished with six points, four assists, and three rebounds on Oct. 11 against the Mavericks, but the Hornets were outscored by 18 points in his 19 minutes. Dinwiddie can put up numbers, but with a negative impact on winning.
After his 2024 buyout from the Raptors, Dinwiddie chose the Lakers. They immediately inserted him as a backup guard, but things never worked out. He shot under 40 percent from the field and averaged just 3.0 points per game in the playoffs as Los Angeles was knocked out by the Nuggets in the opening round.
The Hornets wanted multiple veteran guards behind LaMelo Ball, but Dinwiddie is an inefficient score-first option. Ball, Tre Mann, and Collin Sexton are ahead of him in the guard rotation. The 32-year-old may ultimately be cut or could be stuck on the bench for the retooling franchise.
Former Lakers guard Spencer Dinwiddie is struggling in Charlotte
Dinwiddie averaged 11.0 points, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 27.0 minutes per game last season for the Mavericks. It looked like a bounce back after the disaster in Los Angeles, but the on-off numbers tell a different story. The Mavs had a plus-3.4 net rating without Dinwiddie on the floor and sat at negative-5.1 when he played. Dallas was 8.5 points per 100 possessions worse with Dinwiddie on the floor.
The 32-year-old struggles on defense and is more of a combo guard. He was throwing questionable passes in the Hornets’ latest preseason game and will struggle in Charlotte if he makes their regular-season roster.
The Lakers have their sights set on returning to title contention, but the Hornets are in a different place. They havenโt made the playoffs since 2016 and have just three appearances since returning in 2005. LaMelo must stay healthy, or he risks the team giving up on him. Dinwiddie is an injury insurance policy, but it is quickly going belly up.
Unless this is a stealth tank move, the Hornets have to think hard about when to play Dinwiddie. If his on/off numbers from last season hold, Charlotte may ruin their postseason dreams by leaving him on the floor too long.
The Hornets will likely give their point guard minutes to Ball and Mann when healthy. That means playing Dinwiddie on the wing or not at all. If the veteran guard’s impact on winning doesnโt improve, he will be cut or glued to the bench in Charlotte.
The Los Angeles Lakers were wise to let Spencer Dinwiddie walk when they did. He is still a bucket, but the regression is happening fast. Things havenโt looked promising through three preseason games, and the veteran may be on his last NBA stint. Dinwiddie has much to prove, or this will be the end. The early signs arenโt positive, and Lakers fans are sadly not surprised.
It’s been almost 10 years since the Los Angeles Lakers selected Brandon Ingram with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. After three seasons with the Lakers, the front office sent him to the Pelicans in the 2019 offseason for Anthony Davis. It’s been six years since that happened, and Ingram is starting the season with a new team.
New Orleans traded him to Toronto before the 2025 deadline, but he didn’t play during the final stretch of the season. Ingram’s unofficial Raptors debut didn’t happen until Monday, when Toronto played Denver in Vancouver. It was just one preseason game, but Ingram looked good.
He dropped 19 points on 12 shots in 22 minutes after not playing in a game since last December. He looked a lot better than expected, knocking down midrange shots, facilitating, and moving off-ball
It’s true that you can’t put too much stock into how a player (or a team) looks during the preseason. Still, if the Raptors’ first preseason game was a glimpse into the version of Ingram they’re getting, Toronto will be a team to watch in the East (oh, and a lot is riding on Scottie Barnes).
Former Lakers lottery pick Brandon Ingram looked good in Raptors debut
After the February trade, Ingram agreed to a three-year, $120 million contract with the Raptors, which drew immediate criticism, in large part because of the injuries he’s dealt with in recent seasons. He played only 18 games last season, after all. Still, Toronto believed in him.
Perhaps Ingram is entering this season more motivated than ever, not just because he barely played last season, but because he has a prime opportunity to remind the NBA world who he is. The conversation about Ingram over the past couple of years had more to do with trade rumors and injuries than what he did on the court.
Everyone knows who Ingram is as a scorer, and if they forgot, he reminded them on Monday. Toronto knows that Ingram can be more than that, though, from his playmaking to his defense. Jakob Poeltl said that Ingram’s defensive intensity has impressed him thus far, highlighting how Ingram uses his length to disrupt opposing offenses.
There are still questions about how Ingram will fit in Toronto and how things will look a few weeks into the regular season. It’s too early to say that the trade was a win for the Raptors and that his contract will age well. So far, so good. Will it stay that way
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