Spencer Dinwiddie Discusses Playing PG for Wizards: ‘I’m Not Gilbert, John or Russ’

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Spencer Dinwiddie said Monday he plans
to carve out his own path while following the likes of Gilbert
Arenas, John Wall and Russell Westbrook as the Washington Wizards’
point guard.

“I’m not Gilbert, John or Russ. Those
are all dudes with very interesting personalities,” Dinwiddie told
reporters. “You’ve got some of the best players—obviously Russ,
one of the best players to ever play in terms of the triple-doubles.
You’ve got Gilbert, one of the best scorers of all time. You’ve got
John, who had an extended run when you could argue he was the best
point guard in the league.”

Dinwiddie, who signed a three-year, $54
million contract with the Wizards as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Brooklyn Nets after Westbrook was traded to the
Los Angeles Lakers, joked he could stand out by becoming the “first
point guard in D.C. history to possibly lobby senators about
Bitcoin.”

“But in all seriousness, I think just
my style of play is very different from them,” he said. “Like I
said, I respect everything that they did, but what I want to be known
for is winning, and that’s what I hope to bring to the franchise.”

The 28-year-old Los Angeles native put
together a breakout year in Brooklyn in 2019-20, averaging 20.6
points, 6.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 threes across 64
appearances.

Dinwiddie was limited to three games
last season because of a partially torn ACL, however, and the team’s
trade acquisition of James Harden didn’t leave a path to extensive
playing time or offensive touches once healthy with Kyrie Irving and
Kevin Durant also in the backcourt and on the wing.

Instead, he’ll head to Washington, where
he could team with shooting guard Bradley Beal, who ranked second in
the NBA in scoring last season at 31.3 points per game. Beal has been
the focus of trade rumors, which may change that outlook before the
season tips off.

“Obviously, I spoke to him, and
obviously he’s his own man and his decisions are his own. So I can’t
talk about his plans or what he’s going to do,” Dinwiddie said. “I
think right now we’re both willing to kind of take a little bit of a
bet on each other and try to do something special. All we can kind of
focus on is the now, and if plans change then they change, but we’re
here now and have a really special chance.”

Washington also added Kentavious
Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Aaron Holiday in the
Westbrook blockbuster trade and selected Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert with
the No. 15 overall pick in the 2021 draft, so its rotation will
look quite a bit different by opening night.

A healthy Dinwiddie combined with those
other changes should help push the Wizards, who posted a 34-38 record
last season, over .500 during the 2021-22 campaign.