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Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie will sit out the NBA’s restart after testing positive for COVID-19 in June.
After testing positive for COVID-19 last week, Brooklyn Nets doctors have decided to have guard Spencer Dinwiddie sit out the restart of the season in Orlando. The decision comes out of “an abundance of caution” according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The implications of this decision are tough to project, but other teams could follow in their footsteps as we get closer to the restart. The Nets have drawn a line in the sand, it will be interesting to see if the rest of the NBA follows.
Dinwiddie becomes yet another Nets player who will not play in Orlando, joining Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler. Jordan opted out after he also contracted the virus, while Chandler has opted out due to family concerns. Irving has been out since February with a shoulder injury.
In 64 games this season, Dinwiddie was on his way to career highs in points and assists, averaging 20.6 and 6.8 respectively. In the midst of a career year, Dinwiddie will be a huge loss for the Nets.
The Nets may have a tough time in Orlando. Dinwiddie was their top scorer and assister without Irving, while Jordan was their top rebounder. They will now heavily rely on Caris LeVert and Joe Harris to shoulder the load when it comes to scoring and Jarrett Allen to pull down the boards.
The Nets currently hold the seventh seed in the East and look likely to secure a playoff spot. They sit six games up on the Wizards and would need a catastrophic run during the play-in games to lose their playoff spot. They are essentially locked into the seventh or eighth seed, meaning they’ll likely see the Bucks or Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. They’ll begin their campaign in Orlando on July 31 against the Magic.