Before the 2015-16 NBA season started, the Atlanta Hawks’ Dennis Schroder told German magazine Bild that his goal was to start at point guard. If that didn’t happen, he said, he would “look for other opportunities.” It was a vague message because it didn’t give any timetable, but the fact that he even said it spoke volumes.
In fact, I wrote soon after he made his comments that the Hawks should eventually look to look to trade the young point guard and go with incumbent starter Jeff Teague as their franchise floor general. It was partially because of Schroder’s comments and partially because of the fit both financially and on the court.
This season, although still young, has done very little to change my views.
Both Teague and Schroder have underachieved for a Hawks team that is a disappointing 22-15 and has been super streaky. Teague has regressed significantly from an All-Star campaign last season, while Schroder’s development has come to a complete halt after he made a huge leap between his rookie and sophomore seasons:
Schroder, in particular, has seen some tough times recently. Before a couple of 20-plus minute stints in his last two games, the backup floor general had two straight DNP-CDs.
Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s Matt Winklejohn, this is how Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer responded when someone asked if Schroder was being punished for anything:
“No. He keeps competing in practice, doing what he’s doing. Part of it is Shelvin’s been busting his butt, working hard. I think to give guys opportunities and to develop all 15 guys is important. Dennis will get his opportunities.”
So had third-string point guard Shelvin Mack not been trying hard in practice previously? What was the inciting incident here? Bud’s response is cryptic.
It’s one thing to give Mack a few extra minutes in favor of Schroder for a couple games, but randomly going two entire contests without a potential future star (who had been getting significant rotation minutes all year) in favor of a career backup?
Even though Schroder came back to play significant minutes the following two games, the fact that a player as talented as him even had two consecutive DNP-CDs isn’t normal. There’s something going on beneath the surface.
Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler chimed in on Schroder’s future prospects following the two DNP-CDs:
Zero… was told highly doubtful Hawks do anything with Dennis in-season, may address in the off-season. https://t.co/GNAe7hP7f5
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) January 5, 2016
Obviously, this is just a rumor, and the Hawks are usually tight-lipped about these kind of things. They very well could be discussing a trade for Schroder as we speak without anyone knowing about it.
There were points last year where it looked like Atlanta didn’t need a true No. 1 scorer or more rebounding, but those problems are truly being magnified now. None of its players are quite commanding the offensive attention needed to open things up for better scoring chances, and the Hawks now rank last in rebound differential.
Schroder shows flashes of being the guy who can fix that No. 1 scorer issue within the next couple of years, but there’s also a real possibility the 22-year-old turns into Monta Ellis 2.0, a ball-dominant, inefficient score-first guard who doesn’t significantly impact the game in any other area. It’s too early to pigeonhole him into any role, but the returns from this season haven’t been overwhelmingly positive.
Teague, who’s still a better and smarter player on both ends of the floor despite a difficult campaign, has a season and a half left on his contract. Given the feelings Schroder has voiced regarding his minutes, it’s almost a lock that one of the point guards gets moved before then, and it probably won’t be the guy who runs the offense better and has avoided DNP-CDs. The Hawks would need to muster up a lot of confidence in the young German over a short period of time for the 27-year-old Teague to be the guy they trade.
I doubt Schroder enjoyed spending 96 consecutive minutes watching the game from the bench, and I doubt he’s generally happy with his role in Atlanta. As of now, all signs point to the Hawks shopping him sometime over the next several months in an attempt to fix one of their main two weaknesses.
Note: All statistics are from Basketball-Reference are updated as of January 7 unless otherwise indicated.