NBA: Schröder at the Hawks: No buck on rebuild

Dennis Schröder has caused a sensation with his publicly expressed trade ideas. His assumption that he will not succeed with the Atlanta Hawks for the time being may be correct – but the question arises where else he would be accommodated. Because his dream teams are hardly realistic.

Actually it was supposed to be a normal press conference last Monday, held in the contemplative Braunschweig, Dennis Schröder’s hometown – which was the centre of this PK.

There should be a little chat about the national team, about Dennis’ ambitions with the DBB, about medal dreams at the upcoming World Cup or also about the 24-year-old’s NBA career. But this last point made sure that it was anything but normal.

When it came to Schröder’s future with his Atlanta Hawks, he was unusually clear on the maps – and what he said made headlines only in basketball Germany and the following day in the USA.

“I don’t know what the organization’s up to,” he said about the Hawks, among other things. “But I also have to think individually and see what’s best for me.”

And this, it emerged in the course of the conversation, was possibly a farewell to the franchise that had drafted him into 17th place in 2013 and made him a highly paid starter in the world’s best league.

As a reminder: In the first four seasons with Schröder, Atlanta were a top team in the Eastern Conference. In 2014/15 they were at their peak, finished the Regular Season as Top Seed with a score of 60-22 and were four All-Stars: Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Al Horford.

At that time Schröder was still a rather small fish in the roster, he shared the backup role behind Teague with Shelvin Mack. However, as the season progressed DS17 became more and more important, even in the playoffs Mack was hardly in demand any more, while the German even saw crunchtime minutes.

However, he could not prevent the clear out against the Cavaliers in the Conference Finals. This was a cracking point in the development of Hawks anyway, which did not go steeply but nevertheless noticeably downhill from then on.

With Schröder it was different. There was a competition with Teague for the starter role, which he won with flying colours. His former “superior” was traded to the Indiana Pacers in 2016, the way was clear for the Golden Patch. A few weeks later, the franchise underlined its confidence in Schröder with a rookie extension: he was to receive 70 million dollars for four years.

His patron in Atlanta was always Head Coach Mike Budenholzer, who was also General Manager of the team until 2017. It was he who made the contract for Schröder possible and set it up, he put the (sporting) key of the franchise into the hands of the young man and even accompanied Schröder to Germany for BBL games.

Schröder expressed his gratitude for this on Monday as follows: “Of course Atlanta is my city. “I was drafted there, I have many memories there.” However: Mike Budenholzer is no longer there and therefore probably the most important reference person within the Schröder franchise is now missing.

Perhaps for this reason he has lost his bearings: “I just don’t know what the organization is up to. That’s why I’m going over there in six days to see what happens.”

The international obviously does not like the direction taken by the Front Office. With the departure of Dwight Howard and Millsap last summer, a radical rebuild was initiated, which came as no surprise that the Hawks recently missed the postseason for the first time since 2008. With a balance of 24-58 they landed in the cellar of the East.

But that’s exactly where Schröder no longer feels at ease: “Of course it’s a change for me, my fifth year before last, to be last. It’s a pity to look at. But how the organization wants to continue is not my decision.”

Schröder’s reasoning is quite logical: in his Prime, which is about to open, he wants to play for the top, preferably for titles. And he’s right if he thinks this won’t work for the Hawks in the coming years.

Because the talent combined in the squad is very limited. Sure, with John Collins and Taurean Prince there are two players with potential. But: With Prince the question arises whether he has not long since outperformed his possibilities and developed significantly at all. And Collins doesn’t yet know whether he can find a role that goes beyond that of a constant starter.

After all, the Hawks have the No.3 pick for the 2018 draft, and there’s a good chance of picking a youngster from a later franchise player’s format – but there are no guarantees. However, picking for a “ready” player in a trade is unlikely: “If someone calls us and makes us a good offer for a pick, then we will certainly listen,” said GM Travis Schlenk, “but I don’t think we’ll take the chance to draw a great talent in third place.

With or without this talent, it will be years before a competitive team will emerge in Atlanta and Schröder will be able to move back into the playoffs. The massive cap space for the upcoming Free Agency does not change this, because the Hawks are and were not a popular destination for top-class contractless players, even if there are few teams with similar financial possibilities next summer.

Schröder says he wants to stay in Atlanta “if things are going in the right direction” – but these factors make it difficult to convince him that this is the case. What kind of direction he envisages, he already announced: In Indiana or Milwaukee one is on a good way, a trade there would not be “wrong”.

With this statement, Schröder really stood out among a circle of players who are publicly dissatisfied with their current franchise and play with changing ideas. The power of such players (and advisors) is now greater than ever, and if Schröder’s staff actually audition with a concrete trade demand in the front office, it will be difficult for them to refuse.

Kyrie Irving, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony are the latest examples of stars who forced a trade (though not necessarily publicly) and were successful. However, one must also note that they had and still have a star status that Schröder is far from being able to call his own.

What Schröder obviously has in common with these players is the fact that they don’t care about their own trade value and the franchise has to deal with it itself. If negotiations should actually take place, Schröder’s statements would put the Hawks in a bad position. In general, Schröder’s image has been scratched for assault since his temporary arrest last year.

The question remains: Where does the Point Guard actually fit in? The Bucks don’t really need a ball-dominant player whose strength is the drive and who has weaknesses in the trio and the defense – a “reverse” skill set would be much more appropriate. If Coach Budenholzer actually hires in the beer city, it might reshuffle the cards, but that’s still in the stars.

The Pacers also need more arguments per Schröder than the fact that Victor Oladipo is “a friend” of the German. Darren Collison did a good job as Starting Point Guard and in general: Why should the team, which seems to be undergoing an excellent development, change greatly?

It is therefore quite possible that Schröder will stand on his own two feet with his alleged trade demand. There is no top team that has an acute need on the one and that meets Schröder’s requirements. He did not comment on whether he would sacrifice his starter role to get a better team. This would be a not unlikely side effect of his approach.

By the way, his contract runs until 2021 – without options to become a free agent prematurely. This fact would almost force the Hawks to take action if Schröder wanted to: “A dissatisfied high performer in a young rebuild team has never helped anyone. A few new puzzle pieces in the form of raw talent and picks would probably be the maximum you could get out of it. In Schröder’s opinion, which trade partner is the best, they do not have to listen.