Brooklyn Nets: Spencer Dinwiddie could be an extension candidate

Veteran extensions have become uncommon in the NBA, but Spencer Dinwiddie and the Brooklyn Nets could be the rare pairing for which it’s worthwhile.

For veteran NBA players, contract extensions are rare. In the current NBA environment, most extension-eligible contracts are relics of a distant past prior to the financial apocalypse of 2016. These are relatively small contracts, and the rules governing extensions are far too restrictive.

With exception of the Designated Veteran Player Extension, veteran extensions are severely limited in value. Teams can extend players with a starting salary of up to 120 percent of their previous year’s salary.

When you’re on a pre-2016 contract, that option is unlikely to make sense, because you’re almost definitely underpaid relative to market value (this is why Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving have declined to sign extensions this summer, and why it’s a total non-story).

There is, however, another mechanism for extension, one which enables extremely under-compensated players to lock in life-changing money.

Veteran extension starting salaries are not actually capped at 120 percent of the prior year’s salary, but the greater of 120 percent of the prior year’s salary or 120 percent of the estimated average salary.

Therefore, a team can offer its poorest players extensions worth up to nearly $48 million over four years, a vastly more compelling sum than 120 percent of their minuscule salaries plus eight percent annual raises over four years.

In Spencer Dinwiddie, the Brooklyn Nets have a criminally underpaid and immensely valuable veteran player. During this coming season, Dinwiddie will become extension eligible:

More specifically, Dinwiddie will become eligible for an extension starting at up to 120 percent of the estimated average salary. Dinwiddie’s case may be a rare one in which a veteran extension makes sense for both player and team.

In 2017-18, Dinwiddie was Brooklyn’s best player. The team fell apart with him off the floor (due in part to the struggles of his backups) and was surprisingly respectable with him on the floor, boasting a not-terrible -1.4 net rating.

His shooting percentages weren’t always pretty (38.7 percent from the floor and 32.6 percent from 3), but he shouldered a heavy self-creation load, produced at a high level and indisputably made his team better.

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Dinwiddie is, at worst, an elite third guard. His size and off-ball shooting proficiency (37.2 percent on catch-and-shoot threes) enables him to function on- or off-ball. If you’re optimistic about his outlook, he’s a viable starting point guard.

In a vacuum, the Nets should have no qualms about committing something close to the full four-year, $48 million amount to Dinwiddie. From Dinwiddie’s perspective, he could secure a massive payday in line with his market value.

Of course, none of life occurs in a vacuum. The Nets are in New York (well, sort of) and could have up to $61.7 million in cap space in the summer of 2019. That’s not quite enough space for two maximum contracts, but it’s close enough that general manager Sean Marks could clear the way if he convinces a Batman and Robin to set up shop in Barclays.

A Dinwiddie extension would add a further degree of difficulty to carving out double max space (though it would still be possible).

Luckily, the Nets have the luxury of time. Veteran extensions carry a very forgiving deadline, as they can be consummated up until June 30. That means the Nets can wait and see.

If it becomes clear that Brooklyn’s free agent targets will be staying put or taking their talents elsewhere at any point during or after the season and prior to free agency, the Nets could ensure they won’t lose an essential piece themselves.

At the very least, the 120 percent of estimated average salary extension gives the Nets options. It may be too hard to know if their free agency aspirations are legitimate at any point before July 1. But if Brooklyn gains actionable information, Spencer Dinwiddie could be a rare case in which a veteran extension makes sense.