There are many examples of second-round picks counterattacking in NBA history, Jokic is a good example, he was not selected by the Nuggets until the 14th pick in the second round, but later became the MVP of the league, like the current Brunson, Dream Green, Middleton, etc.
Dinwiddie was also a second-round pick, and as an older rookie, he played three seasons in the NCAA before participating in the NBA draft. In his junior season, Dinwiddie averaged 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, but he only played 17 games due to injury, which also affected his draft market.
Dinwiddie wasn't drafted by the Pistons until the 8th pick in the second round of the 2014 draft, but he didn't get much of a chance playing for the Pistons in the first two seasons of his career, playing in just 46 games in two years combined, and he looked like he could be eliminated from the NBA at any moment. In 2016, Dinwiddie was traded to the Bulls, and then he was cut by the team, and in order to stay in the NBA, Dinwiddie could only sign a three-year contract with the Nets for only 2.9 million, and there was no guarantee in the final year.
However, it was this decision to join the Nets that changed Dinwiddie's career, and in the 2016-2017 season, he played 59 games for the Nets, averaging 22.6 minutes per game, and he was able to contribute 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and shoot 44.4% from the field. In the 2017-2018 season, Dinwiddie's tactical status has improved dramatically, he has played in 80 games, starting 58 of them, and his stats have improved to 12.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game throughout the season.
With this season's performance, Dinwiddie has gained a firm foothold in the NBA, and he signed a three-year, 34 million contract with the Nets in the offseason. In the 2018-2019 season, Dinwiddie was positioned as the team's sixth man, and although he only started four games, he had more possession, averaging 16.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in the regular season, shooting 44.2% from the field. With Dinwiddie's help, the Nets returned to the playoffs, where he averaged 14.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 1.8 three-pointers on 37.5 percent shooting per game against the 76ers.
In the 2019-2020 season, because the two giants in the team, Durant and Irving, couldn't play, Dinwiddie became the starter again, and as the outside core of the Nets that season, he averaged 20.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, although the efficiency has declined, but there is no way, because he is the only player who can hold the ball in the team can carry the ball.
In the 2020-2021 season, Dinwiddie only played 3 games due to a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee, and in the 2021 offseason, he joined the Wizards for 3 years and 62 million through a sign-and-trade approach. However, Dinwiddie only stayed with the Wizards for half a season, and then was traded to the Mavericks, and he still plays a very important role here, averaging 15.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in the regular season, shooting 49.8% from the field and 40.4% from three-point range.
In the 2022 playoffs, Dinwiddie averaged 14.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and he was a very important member of the Mavericks' bench. In the 2022-2023 season, in order to get Irving, Dinwiddie was sent back to the Nets by the Mavericks as a trade chip.
In the first half of the 2023-2024 season, Dinwiddie averaged 12.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage also dropped to 39.1%. However, although the data has declined, but judging from the content of Dinwiddie's game, he still has good strength, and he has also played many times during the regular season such as 29+5+9, 26+6+12 and other very comprehensive data, so when he was traded to the Raptors and bought out, he still gained the attention of a number of strong teams, and finally he chose the former between the Lakers and the Mavericks.
However, under Hamm's hands, Dinwiddie's ability has not been fully utilized, Ham is more interested in his defense, and Dinwiddie does not have many opportunities to play on the offensive end, and only when other core players are absent, Dinwiddie will get more balls. For example, in the first game against the Pacers, when Russell was absent from the game, Dinwiddie started the game, and he played a comprehensive performance of 26 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, and finally successfully helped the team win.
But after that, Ham still didn't pay attention to Dinwiddie's role on the offensive end, and Dinwiddie's playing time was also greatly reduced against the Nuggets in the playoffs, so he averaged only 3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in the series. Although Dinwiddie said he was willing to stay with the Lakers after the season, and he also attended Redick's press conference after becoming head coach, the Lakers' successive operations proved that they did not want to keep Dinwiddie, so after seeing that there was no hope of staying with the team, Dinwiddie chose to return to the Mavericks.
In fact, the Mavericks are indeed the better choice compared to the Lakers, and they are only three wins away from winning the championship this year, so Dinwiddie undoubtedly has a better championship prospect here. The most important thing is that Dinwiddie has played well in this team, he and Doncic also have excellent chemistry, compared to the Mavericks' group of bench ball carriers, Dinwiddie is definitely an upgraded version of Exum and others, with the return of Dinwiddie, the Mavericks' strength in the new season will be improved compared to this year, but whether they can win the championship is still unknown, after all, the league is now too competitive.