Spencer Dinwiddie keeps sense of humor about not being traded

Spencer Dinwiddie of the Nets reacts during the second quarter against the Magic at Barclays Center on Feb. 24, 2020. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Credit Spencer Dinwiddie for having a sense of humor about his uncertain future with the Nets. After the NBA trade deadline passed at 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Dinwiddie still was a member of the Nets despite months of reports and rumors about their efforts to trade him, and he reacted in classic Dinwiddie fashion.
The rehabbing Nets guard, who is recovering from a partially torn left ACL suffered in the third game of the season, took to Twitter and posted a GIF on his account of actor Leonardo DiCaprio delivering his "The show goes on!" speech in the "Wolf of Wall Street." That speech is about his decision to fight efforts to remove him from a financial services company, and the next line is: "They’re going to need a … wrecking ball to take me out of here!"
That typified the sense of humor Dinwiddie always has taken toward his place with the Nets, and judging from videos he has posted of his workouts at home in Los Angeles, he is working hard to return in time to join the Nets (30-15) for the playoffs. Considering the Nets added no one in the backcourt at the deadline, there might be a place for him if he can get healthy.
Nets coach Steve Nash recently tamped down talk of a Dinwiddie return this season, saying, "My No. 1 goal is Spencer’s career, his long-term health. I don’t want to dampen any dreams or goals that he has. At the same time, my No. 1 goal for Spencer is more important than our team, and it’s for him to get to 100 percent with his health and have a long and successful career after this injury.
"Whenever he’s ready to come back to basketball, I’ll be happy, but hopefully, it’s in a really safe and well thought out timeline."
It’s still possible Dinwiddie might leave in a sign-and-trade this summer, assuming he turns down the $12.3 million player option in his contract. In the meantime, speculation now shifts to whether or not the Nets get involved in the buyout market. They already added forward Blake Griffin over the All-Star break, and they have been linked by multiple outlets to center Andre Drummond, who reportedly is negotiating a buyout with the Cavaliers.
But now that the trade deadline has passed, the Nets must focus on getting everyone on their roster healthy. They are coming off a 30-point blowout at Utah in which the list of the missing included Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Blake Griffin and Landry Shamet.
Nash said Griffin will return for the final game of their road trip Friday in Detroit, but Harden (sore neck) is listed as questionable and Shamet (sprained right ankle) has been ruled out.
"Blake will play in Detroit," Nash said. "James, I hope can play. He's pretty banged up. We have to see how it goes, how he feels tomorrow and then how he feels on Friday. We hope he can play, but that’s not a guarantee."
Considering the Nets had such a short-handed lineup lacking their usual offensive firepower, Nash said he was proud of the defensive effort against a team with the best record in the league. But he admitted nothing was gained from the exercise.
"We don't take anything from this, missing our three top players, missing Blake," Nash said. "Once the game got away early, we kind of were able to rest some of our other rotation guys. So we'll move on to Detroit and hopefully have some guys back to play."
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