Looks like Stan Van Gundy is going to get the chance to find out about Spencer Dinwiddie, after all.

Along with pushing the development of Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope by increasing their responsibilities, evaluating Dinwiddie was one of the things Van Gundy hoped to accomplish, he said, when the Pistons stunned the NBA by waiving Josh Smith in December.

Then they started winning games at a rate that made a postseason berth, considered well beyond reach at 5-23 as Christmas arrived, suddenly a possibility again – and Dinwiddie's audition got shoved to the back burner.

A series of events that began with the catastrophic season-ending injury to Brandon Jennings on Jan. 24, however, has put Dinwiddie back in play. And performances like Saturday in Washington, when the Colorado rookie scored 20 points and dished eight assists to lead a comeback from 21 points down that nearly paid off in a win, solidify his spot in the rotation and role over the season's final 23 games.

It's always subject to change based on the next game, but Van Gundy's plan for now is to install Dinwiddie as Reggie Jackson's backup and not alternate him with veteran John Lucas III based on matchups.

"I think what we'll do now is give Spencer the first shot every night and see where it goes," Van Gundy said after Monday's afternoon practice.

Dinwiddie opened some eyes with his Feb. 20 performance against Chicago, when he outplayed Derrick Rose in a 12-point, nine-assist outing as the Pistons beat the Bulls. He struggled four nights later against Cleveland, though, and Van Gundy went with Lucas in the second half of that game over Dinwiddie. He spent a chunk of his night in Washington going against backup Ramon Sessions, but was eyeball to eyeball with John Wall at crunch time and held his own.

"Playing (Rose and Wall) is obviously a confidence booster, having good games against them," Dinwiddie said. "But also you realize what great speed they're able to play at and it's something to aspire to and something you can really learn from."

Playing at a more assertive clip is one of the areas where Van Gundy and his staff have pushed Dinwiddie.

"We always knew that he had size, smarts and skill," Van Gundy said. "What we've been trying to work with him on is playing at a better pace, having a better motor and picking up his defensive intensity. That's really been the emphasis. He's done a better job playing with better pace. He was certainly more aggressive the other night in Wasington.

"Like several of our guys, he's still got a long way to go defensively, but he is making a better effort in practice. He gave up two drives in the game the other night, fourth quarter, that he shouldn't have given up that were just lack of concentration. He's got to get better at those things, but he's not the only one there."

Dinwiddie, an uncommonly introspective 21-year-old, isn't assuming he's turned a corner for good with his breakout performances against two elite point guards. He says comfort level is still up and down for him.

"It's a game-to-game thing. You have to understand the situation," he said. "I knew in the Washington game with Reggie picking up two fouls, I was going to kind of have more of a leash, so it's something I need to get out of. I need to be able to go out there and play aggressive from jump, but unconsciously it's just something you carry with you. You understand in some circumstances your leash is longer and you have a chance to make more mistakes in certain situations.

"In (the Chicago and Washington) games, it was one of those things where I got comfortable. I started hitting shots. I think that's the biggest difference in my play. And also I was comfortable making mistakes. I obviously had some turnovers, but I kind of knew I was going to have my chance to feel my way and so it felt really good. My passing has pretty much been there all year. When I've played quite a bit, I've passed the ball pretty well."

The Pistons took Dinwiddie with the 38th pick last June, maybe 20 spots or more past where he would have been selected if not for the devastating knee injury he suffered in January 2014, ending his junior season. Dinwiddie not only tore his ACL, he also suffered torn medial and lateral meniscus and sprained his MCL. That extended his rehab throughout last summer, costing him his entire rookie offseason. So he's looking forward to this summer when he'll get to spend plenty of time with the Pistons training staff and figures to quarterback their Summer League entry.

"I think it's huge," he said. "One of the big things I want to be able to do is get in really, really good shape, something I wasn't able to do (last summer)," he said. "Not really playing or conditioning until September and then starting to play in October, I wasn't really able to get in the type of shape I'd really like to be in. That will be one of my main focuses."

Van Gundy is going to have a busy summer just in his management of the point guard position: monitoring Jennings' rehabilitation to see if adding an additional player at the position will be necessary and negotiating a contract with Jackson that he hopes will install him as the Pistons point guard for the foreseeable future. Over the final quarter of the season, though, it looks like he's going to get the chance to find out much of what he hopes to learn about Spencer Dinwiddie. So far, so good.