FA: Spencer Dinwiddie Heads to DAL | 1 yr/vet min

[SleepingHero]

For sure. Exum I don't care about so much - he's a "2nd draft" type, or "fallen angel" as we used to say back in the db.com days. His chances at a big payday are almost nil, I'd say, so this being a contract year for him isn't a big deal. Either you like how he plays this year and are willing to give him some sort of small monetary reward to return, or you let someone else take their minimum flyer on him the way you just did. Heck, maybe you could even get him back here for the minimum again, who knows. 

But Hardy...he's not going to get a huge contract, but someone is going to offer him a legit 2nd contract of some sort, just based on his potential to create offense, which is  the thing that never, ever goes out of style in the NBA. If you don't play him this season, it's going to be Josh Green all over again. Personally, I'd want to know what I had BEFORE he hits RFA. If you figure it out and don't want him, you could maybe move him at the deadline or use his RFA to your advantage, somehow, rather than give him a contract and then regret it, or worse - let an asset walk for nothing.

I wouldn't already write off Hardy's potential to grow into a role just because Dinwiddie was signed. In fact I don't think there will be any issues. The Mavs still need an offensive creator on the bench that can come in and score at will.

The way I see it the Mavs have 2 defined roles for their guards: The orchestrator and the scorer. 

Luka is the orchestrator. He has the ball most of the time. Has a massive responsibility to not only score buckets but also set other guys up. Any guard who comes in off the bench to play this role has to do their best Luka impression, which just means you're setting guys up/scoring when needed.

The scorer is an easier role and is basically a traditional SG. You score buckets and you aren't that worried about setting others up. Kyrie is the scorer when Luka is on the court. He is probably one of the best in the league given his efficiency and shot diet. 

But what makes Kyrie so valuable is that he can float between Orchestrator and Scorer seamlessly. And the Mavs are looking to recreate this system off the bench. Looking at our guards:

Exum- Leans more toward an orchestrator. 
Hardy- Leans more toward a scorer. 
Grimes- Leans more toward a scorer.
Dinwiddie- Can either be an orchestrator or scorer. 

The addition of Dinwiddie I don't think has any bearing on Hardy's minutes and it really shouldn't be. I don't want Hardy being the Orchestrator. He's a bucket getter. Let him go get buckets. 

Seeing this, Hardy's biggest competition is Grimes. And both of those guys are going to be RFA's looking for paydays next summer. I think the Mavs wanted this friendly competition to see who gets the contract. I think the Mavs aren't going to pay both of them serious money and the player who can show they can fill that 6th man scoring role will be the one to get the contract. The other will be used in a trade to replace the Maxi role.