The Charlotte Hornets inked veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a one-year, $3.6 million contract in the summer, but they will be entering the 2025-26 NBA season without him on the roster. Dinwiddie was released by Charlotte less than a week before the start of the new NBA campaign, as the team needed to shed a player to get inside the 15-standard contract limit.
But why Dinwiddie?
It appears that the Hornets decided to part ways with Dinwiddie because they didn't want another veteran in forward Pat Connaughton to be the one they'd waive for at least two reasons, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
For one, Connaughton is said to have cultivated a great persona in the young Hornets locker room.
“The 32-year-old is already a popular locker room presence in Charlotte, ranks as the only active Hornet who has won an NBA championship and is one of just two thirtysomethings on a young team alongside 35-year-old Mason Plumlee,” wrote Stein.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, Stein noted that “Charlotte does still harbor hope that the former Milwaukee Buck's $9.4 million expiring contract holds some appeal as a useful trade chip between now and the Feb. 5 trade deadline.”
Connaughton arrived in Charlotte via a trade in July. The Bucks sent him to the Hornets along with two future NBA draft picks in exchange for Serbian guard Vasilije Micic, who was later waived by Milwaukee. Two weeks before that move by Milwaukee, Connaughton picked up his player option for the 2025-26 season worth $9.43 million.
Selected in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets, Connaughton has played 595 regular-season games in the league, averaging 6.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 35.6 percent from behind the arc in his career.
Connaughton isn't expected to get heavy minutes with the Hornets, and is likely not going to be part of the team's rotation, while being buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Kon Knueppel, Josh Green and Liam McNeely. But from a front office's perspective, the Hornets appear to be more interested in the kind of capital they'd get in case of a Connaughton trade than what his actual value could be on the floor.
