Spencer Dinwiddie assigned to Grand Rapids Drive for D-League Showcase

The Detroit Pistons announced via press release on Thursday that Spencer Dinwiddie will play for the Grand Rapids Drive in the upcoming D-League Showcase. Play begins on Friday afternoon with the Drive going up against the Oklahoma City Blue. They play again on Sunday.

This will be a great opportunity for Dinwiddie to see some run in multiple games over the weekend and further showcase to the Pistons what he can do. (Oh yeah, that pun was fully intended.)

A couple days ago, Jason expressed his belief that Dinwiddie should play garbage time over Steve Blake now that Brandon Jennings is back. Jason left Keith Langlois' mailbag thoughts in the comments, which I thought would be worth re-sharing here:

Their primary goal - and the secondary goal is probably a distant runner-up - is to win games now, Jason. That said, Stan Van Gundy understands the Pistons aren't yet to the point where they sacrifice, or even risk, damaging their future in the quest to get a playoff berth this season. But how much risk is inherent in delegating "garbage time," as you identified it, to the guy he clearly views as his No. 3 point guard instead of his younger No. 4 point guard? I don't think Van Gundy needs to see Dinwiddie play the last four minutes of a blowout to inform his evaluation of him. He sees him every day in practice and in the after-practice two-on-two or three-on-three games players who aren't a regular part of the rotation engage in when the schedule allows. If you'll recall, it was Dinwiddie's performance in those after-practice competitions that led Van Gundy to give Dinwiddie some run as the No. 2 point guard in November when Blake, who'd missed three weeks of training camp with a concussion, struggled to regain his conditioning and sharpness early in the season. You're right - there's no guarantee Blake or Jennings is back next season. But Van Gundy won't be caught without adequate depth and talent at point guard and there's no reason to think the Pistons will be financially constrained from adequately addressing their needs at the position. Van Gundy has talked with Jennings about a future beyond this season, while acknowledging that there are too many unknowns - and most of them on Jennings' side, as the ball will be in his court as a free agent - to state with any certainty that he'll be back with the Pistons. So he'll dress Blake over Dinwiddie at this point in case a need arises during a game - foul trouble or injury, most likely - for a third point guard. And it's also possible, if less than likely, that as Van Gundy begins to use Jackson and Jennings in the same backcourt that there will be a need for Blake to provide spot minutes as well during the course of a game.

With the trade deadline coming up, Dinwiddie's play with the Drive and practice could be all-important in what the Pistons do with Blake, if anything.

Now your thoughts.