The Bulls of Summer: Spencer Dinwiddie
On Thursday, the Chicago Bulls announced their Las Vegas Summer League roster which includes Spencer Dinwiddie. The list was expanded to 13 players, including several players who are expected to play a significant role for the Bulls now and in the future along with a handful of longshots and D-League bound fringe ballers.
The Bulls will play at least five games in Las Vegas between July 9 and July 18 and the Bulls have won their first two games, beating the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers.
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A lot of people may be familiar with names like Denzel Valentine, but not everyone knows players like Raymar Morgan. Over the next few days we will give you the 4-1-1 on each of the players on the Bulls roster for Summer League.
Who: Spencer Dinwiddie
Position: Guard
Age: 23
Background: Dinwiddie back! I remember having a Slack chat with some of the staff of Pippen when I told site editor Michael Whitlow that I was disappointed Dinwiddie was gone. I really like the idea of some players and think it is unfortunate that their game might not be ready to take off when the league comes calling. A three-year player for Colorado in the Pac-12, Dinwiddie played 86 games between 2011 and 2014. For his college career, Dinwiddie put up 13 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Like almost every player we’ve covered in our Bulls of Summer series, Dinwiddie played his best college ball in his final season. In 2013-14, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
After Colorado, Dinwiddie was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. A player that has some injury concerns, he made it two seasons in Detroit before being traded to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Cameron Bairstow. Dinwiddie was then waived by the Bulls, part cap maneuver, part crowded back court. With the additions of Jerian Grant, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, something had to give. Or did it?
Outlook: It wasn’t until sometime during the first quarter of the Bulls’ Las Vegas Summer League opener that I noticed Dinwiddie was dressed and on the bench. Indeed, the Bulls brought Dinwiddie back for the summer. Reports have since emerged from various sources including Sean Highin via the Locked On Bulls podcast, that Chicago intends to bring Dinwiddie to camp in the fall and he has a realistic chance of getting back on the roster for the upcoming season.
Still, there is the possibility that the Bulls will bring him in for the fall and not have a spot for him, which would mean that they either cut him loose or try to get him to join their D-League team, the Windy City Bulls. Dinwiddie isn’t an NBA starter at this point in his career, but with two years in the league under his belt and being just 23 years old, it seems safe to say that Dinwiddie will be around for a while and would have offers from around the league as a bench guy. Understandably, he might prefer that to spending time in the D-League.
Dinwiddie is playing inspired basketball in the LVSL so far, averaging 12 points per game, only 0.5 points behind team leader Bobby Portis. He’s getting good playing time, 19.5 minutes per game, and is stuffing the stat line with 3.5 assists, which leads the entire team, and 3 rebounds per game. He’s playing with confidence, like a man with a guarantee for an invite to training camp in the fall. That’s probably because that is exactly the case for Dinwiddie. Look for him to continue playing well and with confidence for the rest of the summer.