No Spencer Dinwiddie, Pat Connaughton in Thursday night's loss raises questions

Coming into the 2025 offseason, one thing was extremely clear about the Charlotte Hornets: the team needed veterans.

Last season, they had two in Taj Gibson and Seth Curry. Curry is now in Golden State with his older brother, and Taj has been sitting in free agency.

The Hornets did their due diligence in free agency when it came to veterans, bringing in three new names: Pat Connaughton, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Mason Plumlee. The three have years of NBA experience between them, and Connaughton is the only player on the current roster who has won an NBA title.

Plumlee was always expected to see serious center minutes, even after he was signed. The Hornets center rotation consists of him, Moussa Diabate (a center entering his first season with the Hornets on a standard NBA contract), and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner. Last night's defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder was the first real chance to get a look at the potential center rotation, and it saw Diabate start, and Plumlee be one of the first men off the bench.

When Pat Connaughton was brought in, it was always expected that the wing would probably be a cut candidate at the end of the day. He's expected to make around $9 million this season and is coming off another down year, which points to potentially a player close to being out of the NBA. Connaughton only played 9 minutes in his first game, scoring three points and recording two turnovers.

Spencer Dinwiddie's signing confused many fans at first, given how much depth the Hornets had added to the guard position this summer. He was a welcome addition, though, as Dinwiddie averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 assists in 30 starts last season for the Dallas Mavericks. He was a veteran voice in the guard room that could give minutes when needed, yet played 11 total minutes (second half only) in the first preseason game, and was a DNP-CD in game two.

Connaughton's DNP still made sense. Connaughton, at this point in his career, is much more of a leader than he is a player on the court. All his shooting numbers are down, and he had his fewest games played last season since the 2016-17 season. Looking at the roster as a whole, Pat is the likely cut candidate.

So, what about Spencer? The guard has not been on a downward trend in his career, as mentioned above still averaged 10+ points.

"Just an odd situation, very confusing. Couldn’t tell you why it’s like this," a source close to Dinwiddie said after the game.

"It's confusing for a starting point guard who was averaging 14 and 6 on a Play-In team, can't get minutes. He's been playing very well in practice."

Dinwiddie's lack of playing time was likely due to the team wanting to see more from Sion James in the preseason. At this point, we know what Spencer Dinwiddie can bring to an NBA roster. As for James, though, there is a strong chance he does see plenty of time in Greensboro with the G-League squad this season.

Last night, as strange as it was, may have been a chance for Charles Lee and the organization to see how Sion played with the starters. With Saturday night's game being in Dallas, perhaps we will see more Dinwiddie in the entire game.

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