Sometimes, contract negotiations involve millions of dollars. For former Net Spencer Dinwiddie, it was a matter of… $1.
Dinwiddie made it a point to include a bonus in his three-year, $62 million contract with the Wizards that will pay him $1 if Washington wins a championship during his time there. At first, the front office thought the bonus was a joke, according to The Athletic. But when Washington realized Dinwiddie was dead serious, it immediately added the clause to the contract.
The only catch is that Dinwiddie wants 100 pennies instead of a dollar bill.
���I enjoyed the fact that I went from trying to securitize my contract and the NBA not liking it to them then embracing technology and me being an ambassador of NBA Top Shot to now being part of the most complicated trade in NBA history, where a bunch of people changed hands and all this stuff and now having the most unique bonus in my contract,” Dinwiddie told The Athletic about his new contract.
The 28-year-old did not just sign with the Wizards, but was involved in a historic five-team deal. The trade included the San Antonio Spurs, who received Chandler Hutchison and a second-round pick, the Los Angeles Lakers, who grabbed Russell Westbrook and the Indiana Pacers, who got Isaiah Jackson.
The Nets landed two second-round picks and a trade exception, while the Wizards claimed Dinwiddie along with Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Isaiah Todd and Aaron Holiday.
The next step for Dinwiddie is collecting his 100 pennies, though he said he realizes that it will take time for the new-look Wizards to build chemistry. His goal — to start — is to be able to go head-to-head with the elite teams in the league.
“Obviously, we wanna make the playoffs. We don’t wanna be a Play-In-type team. We wanna be solidly in the playoffs,” Dinwiddie said. “So, if we could compete for that upper echelon of that home-court type of situation, then that would be ideal.
“We can’t make any guarantees, because obviously, it’s not just a young-ish group; it’s also a very new group. If you look at who our rotation is scheduled to be, none of us have really played together in the type of situation that we’re gonna be in now. You have a new coach, a new system.”
On top of the championship incentive, Dinwiddie also has other playoff clauses in the deal. According to USA Today, he will also get $1.5 million if he plays 50 or more games, $100,000 if the team makes the second-round of the playoffs, $571,000 if the Wizards make the Eastern Conference Finals and $400,000 if the team makes NBA Finals.
Last season, Dinwiddie appeared in three games before tearing his ACL. In the 2019-20 season, he averaged 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and shot 41.5 percent from the field. He will look to create a dynamic duo with star Bradley Beal in his quest to earn that extra $1.