The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to start the 2025-26 season with a glaring hole in their starting lineup. With Dejounte Murray rupturing his right Achilles late in January last season, the Pels are expected to be without his services for the first couple of months to start the 2025 campaign. This has left many suggesting the team take a point guard with the 7th overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft. But banking on Jeremiah Fears being available at seven may not be smart.
Instead, the Pelicans could look to find a short-term replacement in free agency. Chris Paul has been a name floated around. That being said, the Pelicans are only expected to have $5.7 million to spend from the Taxpayer Midlevel Exception, and Paul may be too pricey. So the Pelicans may have to settle for someone with a lesser market. Why not Spencer Dinwiddie?
The case for Dinwiddie
Now, the dropoff from a guy like CP3 to Spencer Dinwiddie may seem drastic, but it's not. I would argue Dinwiddie had a better 2024-25 season than Chris Paul did. Last season, Dinwiddie averaged 11.0 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists, while shooting 41.6% from the field and 33.4% from 3-point range for the Dallas Mavericks.
Although these numbers don't jump off the page, you must consider the spot Dinwiddie was in last year. He started the year either playing 10-15 minutes a night or not playing at all, then playing 35+ minutes a night by the second half of the season. Dinwiddie did an excellent job filling in for Kyrie Irving as a starter last season.
He started in 30 of 79 games last year. In those games he started, he averaged 14.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.2 assists a night. Now, those are incredible numbers for a guy who is on a minimum contract. His ability to come into challenging situations, like becoming a starter because Kyrie got injured, is impressive and nothing new.
It feels like Dinwiddie can pick up the slack whenever a team's star guard goes down or is having a bad night. Just look at the 2019-20 season. Dinwiddie was the backup for the Nets, and at this point, he still hadn't broken out into the player he is now. Then Kyrie went down with an injury, and he was forced to become a starter. The rest of that season, he averaged 21.3 points per game in 49 starts.
When you look back at it, I'm honestly surprised he was never able to become a team's full-time lead guard, although the Wizards tried. He has the shot-making ability and is a good floor general. He hits clutch shots, has a solid build at 6'5", plays with some grittiness, and has good leadership skills. However, he could never piece it all together as a full-time starting guard.
That being said, Dinwiddie has the ability to give teams a magical 25 to 35 games, and at 32 years old, I think he would be an excellent signing for the Pelicans. He would be cheaper than other options, and the Pelicans would also be able to offer him full starter minutes to start 2025-26, something other teams can't. He also moves very similarly to Dejounte Murray offensively, making him a seamless fit. Signing him would be low risk, extremely high reward. So why not?