Spencer Dinwiddie – Knee

Entering the season, the Brooklyn Nets were expected to be one of the favorites to win the title in the Eastern Conference given that they had Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and a bunch of key players like Spencer Dinwiddie for depth. However, 3 games into the season, Spencer Dinwiddie tore his ACL in his right knee and was ruled out for the season. 

The reason this injury will and has had major implications on the Nets and their championship odds are because this move directly played a role in the Nets going out and acquiring James Harden. If Dinwiddie was healthy and this team was playing really well together early on in the year, Brooklyn may not have gone after James Harden and he could have ended up in Philadelphia or in Miami! 

You never want to say someone going down with a torn ACL like Spencer Dinwiddie was a good thing for the Brooklyn Nets, but because this injury happened so early on in the season, the Nets had options and as a result, they were able to turn themselves into one of the teams to beat this year. 

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Spencer Dinwiddie is still under contract for one more season in Brooklyn and since they did not trade him at the trade deadline, it is expected that Dinwiddie will play a major role in the second-unit for Brooklyn next year. 

With James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving all healthy for the Nets’ playoff run this year, they are going to be a tough team to beat en route to the NBA Finals.