The Atlanta Hawks stripped things down and began rebuilding last season en route to the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth spot in Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery. After a decade of unparalleled success in Atlanta, it was determined now was the time to tear it down after stalling out in the postseason once again and having a decision to make in free agency with All-Star Paul Millsap.
They were successful in their venture, letting Millsap walk to Denver, shipping Dwight Howard to Charlotte, and beginning a youth movement in Atlanta. The problem is that for some of their roster, being a part of a rebuild isn’t exactly the situation they want to find themselves in.
Point guard Dennis Schröder is among those that would prefer to be on a competitive team and the grumblings out of Atlanta for much of the season have pointed to Travis Schlenk and the new Hawks front office not exactly being fond of Schröder either. With a new coach in Lloyd Pierce, all parties will need to sit down and determine whether they think Schröder is part of their future or not.
Schröder spoke with reporters in Germany on Monday and addressed that situation, noting he plans on meeting with the Hawks later this week along with his agent, and he even noted a pair of teams he would be open to being dealt to in Indiana and Milwaukee if Atlanta isn’t planning on turning things around quickly (video below along with translated transcriptions from David Hein).
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Speaking in Germany at a German Basketball Federation DBB press conference, Dennis Schröder about the current situation with the Atlanta Hawks pic.twitter.com/n8w3J3fg9t
— David Hein (@heinnews) May 14, 2018
An elaboration from Dennis Schröder about the next few days and the up-coming talks with the @ATLHawks pic.twitter.com/kNAJhdnQ6J
— David Hein (@heinnews) May 14, 2018
Dennis Schröder told a press conference in Germany that @Pacers (he has a good relationship with Victor Oladipo) and @Bucks would be teams he could imagine being traded to: pic.twitter.com/9d9QxBQ8Pj
— David Hein (@heinnews) May 14, 2018
Dennis Schröder said he wants to stay in Atlanta if it looks like things are going in the right direction. But he said he wants to compete while in his prime: pic.twitter.com/3SOokRq2LV
— David Hein (@heinnews) May 14, 2018
It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out. Schröder’s raw stats saw an uptick last year due to a sky-high usage rate and the lack of much else in the way of offensive creativity on the Hawks roster. However, he was not efficient and seemed to take a step back in terms of defense and effort, which were likely caused by a lack of motivation from being on a bad team.
Schröder has three years left on a deal that pays him $15.5 million annually, which will mean a team dealing for him will have to buy in on his abilities and that in the right situation he would be more efficient and just generally give better effort. Since coming into the league, Schröder has flashed great upside but has not been able to sustain those flashes over the long-term and for a contender to be willing to pay that kind of salary, they’d have to believe in him as a starter.
We’ll find out what the market is this summer, as it seems both sides may have reason to want to move on. If he’s still on the roster come training camp next year, it’s likely because the market dictated it, not that both sides had changes of heart.
(h/t Peachtree Hoops)
