Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is confident that Steve Nash will succeed as the new head coach of the franchise, he told Shlomo Sprung of Forbes.com.
Dinwiddie discussed a variety of subjects in the interview, including Nash, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and more. Brooklyn announced the hiring of Nash last week with no prior media coverage of the possibility, surprising observers around the league.
“It was definitely out of left field,” Dinwiddie said. “I think overall, it makes sense from the relationship perspective.”
Nash shares a close relationship with Durant, having worked for the Warriors as a player development consultant during his run with the team. Brooklyn consulted Durant, Irving and others before hiring Nash, a decision that received positive reviews from those in the franchise.
“Obviously white privilege is a thing, 1000%,” Dinwiddie said. “But in this situation, he’s only one of the most qualified basketball players of all time and is friends with the stars of our team and the GM of the team [former teammate Sean Marks]. It kind of makes sense beyond the fact that he doesn’t have coaching experience.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division tonight:
- Blake Murphy of The Athletic examines six takeaways from the Raptors‘ seven-game series loss to the Celtics. Toronto was 0.5 seconds away from going down 3-0 before OG Anunoby‘s buzzer-beating shot in Game 3, climbing back to force the hard-fought series to seven games. The Raptors have several key players set to reach free agency this offseason, including Fred VanVleet, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol.
- Celtics forward Jayson Tatum passed his latest test to superstardom in leading the team over Toronto, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. Tatum has steadily improved on both ends since entering the league, recording 29 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the team’s Game 7 victory. “He’s a superstar. He showed it tonight,” teammate Kemba Walker said after that game. “Anyone have any question or doubt on that? He showed it.”
- Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue remains the best option for the Sixers as they search for a new head coach, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Lue and the Sixers both share a mutual interest for the position, according to Pompey, which was vacated when the team fired Brett Brown after a disappointing 2019/20 season.
Tatum’s barely an allstar. Bigger test to come. First a day without NBA games.
I love Tatum, but I agree “superstar” gets thrown around too easily these days.
I agree he may not yet be a true “superstar” but the comment above saying he’s “barely an all-star” is totally absurd. He’s also only 22 years old and I think well on his way to becoming a ‘superstar’ in the next couple of years (assuming he continues to develop and grow as a player like he has since coming into the league)
Oh come on… “barely an all-star” that’s rediculous. He’s clearly an all-star and then some… I will give you that I’m not quite sure he’s achieved “superstar” status yet — but he is also still incredibly young. He played this season at 21/22 and has been terrific in most of the team’s playoff games thus far. I think he’s well on his way to becoming a legitimate ‘superstar’ but will admit that he may not quite be there yet. But at the same time saying he’s “barely an all-star” is just silly at this point. For one thing he’s the best player on a team about to play in the Eastern Conference Finals — so just that alone makes him a legitimate star player… nevermind that he also averaged 22 PPG 6+ RPG, shot 38+% from 3-pt range and is still only 22 years old. He’s absolutely a legitimate “All-star caliber” player and is well on his way to becoming a superstar as well.
His stats are actually even better than I originally thought… should have said 23+ PPG/ 7+ RPG and 40+% from 3-pt range. If, at 22, that’s not a legitimate all-star… then Idk what is. He may not be the next LeBron James… but ‘superstar’ doesn’t literally mean top 3/4 in the league… I’d say in today’s NBA there are closer to 5-10 “superstars” and while Tatum may not quite be there yet… if the Celtics make the NBA Finals… he’d be the BEST player on the BEST team in the East… and that more or less, by definition, makes you a superstar (not to mention he’s still going to improve in the coming years)
He is close to being a superstar. The way you can tell he’s not quite there is he doesn’t get the foul call every time he misses a shot like the superstars.
Lol
Barely an all star shows you haven’t seen him play often.
•Literally, Tatum played 13 minutes in the last allstar game.
•”Superstar” is a vague term, though I assume there would be fewer of them than the 24 allstars.
•But, allstar is a specific recognition and contest.
•According to BasRef, Tatum finished 7th and last among EC frontline allstars. He got no media votes, which dropped him from 5th.
•At the time of the voting, it was controversial that Tatum got in but Jaylen Brown did not, or that there was a percerption that there could be only one or the other besides Kemba.
•Its like the least controversial thing I’ve posted recently!
•But this is less sure: I think he daydreams oncourt a lot. This is not unusual for SFs, indeed a good reason why a talent gets put there. SF is safe for daydreaming though like with young Lebron, it’s best if he can stop it. Ingram did it this year.
•Tatum is SF-sized at 6-8 210. That he plays PF makes the Celts look light and they could not put away Toronto. Ainge should trade Brown for a good big, or at least a good long, that he can stand lol.
•Tatum keeps improving, and scores on the popular vote, 50% of total.
•The others: Giannis, Embiid, Siakam, Butler, Adebayo, Sabonis.
•Clearly he outplayed Siakam, and Sabonis is out with injury.
•The voting is EC/WC, front/back court, though the game divisions vary.
Why are you waffling on about All-star stuff, when there’s actual basketball to focus on? No one cares about your midseason popularity contest – we’re in the middle of meaningful basketball.
Come back when they start handing out rings for exhibition games.
•It was all about the label ‘barely an allstar’, not the actual allstar game. The OP is easy to read.
•”Waffling” means indecisive avoiding, not going on for too long. That would be true!
•Playoff games always involve sparring over the quality of a player or team, at least since the Bulls-Pistons era, and this site does not do game recaps.
@x%sure totally agree with your points!
No, Ainge should NOT trade Brown for anybody.
It’s a great luxury to bring such quality off the bench.
Hint, they could trade Hayward to the Cavs. Not sure what Hayward delivers.
Barely an All Star? Lol…come on man, that’s like saying the Knicks are going to the Finals next year.
link to espn.com
Spencer Dinwiddie said the Steve Nash hire was out of left field. Does that mean Sean Marks did not ask his opinion about the potential of Nash coming in to coach?
KD will get around to talking to spencer a bout this
Why would anyone ask Dimwiddie’s opinion?
Ty Lue is worth 6 million a year
He should take 4 years 16m to join 76ers
Becky should take Pacers job
Donovan should take Pelicans 4 years 20 million
Sadly no one takes Kidd and Jackson
Crazy Nets trade idea
Nets: DeMare DeRozan (sign and trade), LaMarcus Aldridge, Derrick White and 11th pick in 2020 draft.
Spurs: Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Teurean Prince and Jarrett Allen
May seem one sided to the Spurs but I think the longer you look at it the more even it looks.
Spurs get Dinwiddie who is a near all star level point guard, Caris LeVery who is a promising young SG, Prince who is an average combo forward and Jarrett Allen who is a solid young centre. They get a good haul for a rebuild and the players that are older don’t have terrible contracts and could be used in other trades.
Nets get DeRozan who is Irving friend, they get Aldridge who is a hugely experienced PF which means KD gets less minutes in the 4 position which will make him happier. They get Derrick White who replaces Dinwiddie as the bench PG behind Irving. Then lastly they get a decent pick in the draft which can also be used in greying more depth. They would have a very experienced starting 5 that looks tough and would be a favourite to make it out the East. Off the bench they would have solid depth.
Long term wise the Nets would be getting older and taking on two bad deals but with the view that they would be very good for 2/3 seasons then when the deals expire they would have cap space to spend.
Spurs long term wise get a decent return for two old players on expensive contracts. They get young talent and can build around that.
I’d suggest trying to flip Murray for Kuzma and a first (LeBron is a Murray friend and fan).
1. Dinwiddie. Mills
2. LeVert. Walker.
3. Gay. Johnson
4. Kuzma. Lyles
5. Allen. Poetl.
It looks too drastic for the Spurs to try, but it solves a lot of problems. Nets should be dealing, they have a big lineup change coming up anyway.
Looks drastic but they missed the playoffs with an old team that’s not getting any better. This team would be much more competitive, entertaining and would improve
Walker needs to show up….
What’s the easiest way to figure out if someone is a Superstar vs just an All Star or Hall of Very Good? Start naming the best players in the game. If you get past 15, hes probably just an All Star caliber. If you get past 25, hes probably Hall of Very Good caliber. Just start reeling off the best players you can think of.
LBJ, Giannis, Kawhi, KD, AD, Harden, Curry, Embiid, Lillard, Towns, Jokic, Klay, Doncic, PG13, Kyrie, Westbrook, Butler, Simmons, Beal, Booker, CP3, Tatum. That’s where I got before I thought Tatum. 22nd.
Disagree i think “superstar” is not only about on court but off the court aswell.
For example you listed Klay as a superstar. I’d say Klay is a top 5 for his position no doubt, will go down as an all time great along side Reggie and Ray but he isn’t very outspoken and was apart of a dynasty that won rings. I don’t consider him a superstar. I don’t think of Simmons Booker Butler and CP3 as super stars either but I would think long and hard about Tatum. Same with Donovan Mitchell and Trae Young these kids get extra attention in the media are often more outspoken and for their respective teams are a large part of if they win or not.
Agree with writer Murphy in the Athletic link, tho he is hard to quote.
“Maybe it’s a good thing VanVleet [was prohibited from getting] re-upped in November or during the reseeding games when he was the Raptors’ best player… transition opportunities decrease in the postseason… Fred VanVleet struggled to create inside the arc”.
Gasol was “hesitant to execute… their most efficient play type… using their big as a roller or in pick-n-pop… and it exacerbated the problems”.
The Siakam-Anunoby frontcourt with no center was “their best” in gms.6+7.
“The league-wide push to load up on wing defenders may have tilted playoff rosters too far the other way”.
“Miami might end up as the only team in the final four that trusts more than six players” [in their rotation].