Atlanta Hawks: Varying Fortunes For John Jenkins, Dennis Schröder
By Adam McGee
Team options are often the cause of some of the more difficult decisions that NBA front offices have to make, and at Thursday’s deadline the Atlanta Hawks were one of many teams who found themselves on that hot seat.
Sometimes the decision to pick up an option in a player’s contract is an easy one, when the player has comfortably exceeded expectations, or even fell so far below them, but this time around for the Hawks it was very much a case of being in limbo.
The players in question for Atlanta were third-year shooting guard John Jenkins, and sophomore point guard Dennis Schröder. In both cases, neither player had truly lived up to the labels they were given before their draft class, but it could well be the case that the Hawks had different developmental timelines in mind when they drafted the pair.
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John Jenkins was highlighted as the best shooter in the 2012 draft class, and entered the NBA as someone who had blitzed his way through college as a shooter with Vanderbilt, while Schröder came in as an incredibly raw, true playmaking point guard who had a little professional experience in Germany.
To date, with Jenkins having only posted mediocre shooting averages and missing a lot of time with injury, and Schröder proving to be a turnover machine still in need of learning how to slow down, the Hawks will feel they haven’t received what was advertised in either case yet.
That didn’t stop the team from seeing the future of the two players differently though. The Hawks picked up Schröder’s option for next season, obviously reluctant to quit on a first round pick who is still only 21-years-old, yet in Jenkins’ case the Hawks weren’t so generous, as his option was declined.
In terms of Schröder, the Hawks were wise to take another look at him and keep the faith for another season for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the German has only played just over 600 minutes in the NBA to date, so is still feeling his way into life in the league.
He has shown great potential in his year as a Hawk, and if it wasn’t for his lack of control and discipline he surely would have received greater opportunities.
The coaching staff and front office in Atlanta have long been rumored to be very high on Schröder as a prospect, and they seem more than willing to put the time in to help him grow his game. Much like last season, if Schröder’s play is sloppy when he comes into a game, coach Mike Budenholzer will have no hesitation in benching him immediately.
One other reason that exercising Schröder’s option seems sensible is, that there are likely plenty of others around the NBA who still believe in his potential also.
By picking up his option, the Hawks give themselves some extra time to take a look at him, and if they decide he isn’t what they thought, he could always hold value as a trade chip.
The situation with Jenkins is very different. In speaking to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jenkins voiced his disappointment at the Hawks decision:
"I’m pretty upset about it but it’s part of the game. I felt how I came back from injury, from August until now, I feel like I made leaps and bounds and shocked a lot of people in the way I came back. I feel like in the preseason, I might have earned my spot and had my option picked up. But it didn’t happen. I will continue to work hard, support the team and be positive.”"
Although Jenkins did have a great preseason, it’s still very difficult to see how the Hawks could make any other decision. Where Schröder was drafted as a “project” player that would need a lot of polishing, Jenkins had proven NCAA pedigree and was expected to be able to help out much sooner.
The fact that he struggled to do so, didn’t leave the Hawks with much option really.
Also, an even bigger factor than his play may have been his health. Jenkins missed almost all of last season following back surgery, and for a shooter of only 23 years of age, that immediately sets alarm bells off.
This doesn’t necessarily signal the end for Jenkins as a Hawk, as the team can still re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent next summer. It just means that if Jenkins wants to keep his spot on the roster, he’s really going to have to fight to earn it, and prove he’s worth another shot.