Brooklyn Nets G Spencer Dinwiddie: ‘I want to return for the playoffs’

Spencer Dinwiddie is trying to make it back to the Brooklyn Nets for the playoffs after undergoing knee surgery earlier this season.

When Spencer Dinwiddie went down with a partial tear in his ACL on Dec. 28, it looked like his season was over. The Brooklyn Nets couldn’t expect him to be back this year, but the determined Dinwiddie is trying to pull off the unexpected.

Most ACL surgeries require an 8-12 month recovery process In a recent interview with Shlomo Sprung of Forbes, Dinwiddie detailed his plans to return for the playoffs just five months after his surgery.

“I want to return for the playoffs,” Dinwiddie stated.

“If you could be the fastest ACL recovery in history at five months, that puts you at June and gives you several weeks to get in shape,” he said. “That’s just me throwing something at the wall.”

Don’t look for Dinwiddie in a first-round matchup, but his current timeline would give him a chance to make it back for a potential Eastern Conference Finals. By that point, the Nets may have settled on a consistent rotation, but having Dinwiddie back can’t hurt.

Dinwiddie’s injury impacts the future of the Nets as well. Although he can pick up his option for $12 million this summer, he already plans to opt out and test free agency. Barring an injury setback, he is set on opting out.

“I’m gonna be more than healthy by the time free agency starts, so just from a dollars perspective you kind of have to,” Dinwiddie said. “$12 million isn’t market value for a starting point guard. It’s probably about half, 20-25. So obviously it’s pretty concrete that I’m gonna opt out.”

This puts the Nets in a tough position. When healthy, Dinwiddie could be the perfect sixth man for this team. However, he is fully capable of being a starting point guard somewhere else. The future for Dinwiddie and the Nets is unclear.