Atlanta Hawks Wise To Sign Dennis Schroder Before Free Agency
Signing Dennis Schröder to a new contract was a necessary gamble for the Atlanta Hawks. It could pay dividends in the long run.
The Atlanta Hawks may have jumped the gun by signing starting point guard Dennis Schröder to a new contract. Schröder has intriguing upside, but he’s yet to prove whether or not he can handle the role of a full-time starter.
Though it may be easier to claim that Atlanta jumped the gun, it appears more likely that it jumped the curve.
Schröder is entering his fourth NBA season and his first year as a full-time starter. The Hawks traded previous starting point guard Jeff Teague to the Indiana Pacers and have since confirmed that Schroder will start.
Schröder announced the new deal himself on his official Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/DennisMike93/status/791369402285457416
Marc Stein of ESPN quickly followed with the details of the contract.
ESPN sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA and I that Hawks guard Dennis Schroder has landed a four-year, $70 million extension today
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 26, 2016
The Hawks just saved themselves a full season of unnecessary drama by signing Schröder to a cost-effective deal.
Schröder, 23, will become a restricted free agent during the summer of 2017. His market value hadn’t yet been determined, but he was a solid season away from receiving a max contract in a spend-crazy climate.
Keep in mind, Evan Turner signed a a matching contract—four years, $70 million—and he isn’t even starting for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Having factored in the amount of money that’s been spent over the past four months, it’s hard to call this an overpay. Of course, it’s generally unwise for a team to pay a player before they’ve proven to be worth the outlined number of dollars.
The modern NBA covets upside over immediate impact, however, and there aren’t many point guards with more of it than Schröder.
Schröder finished the 2015-16 NBA regular season with averages of 11.0 points, 4.4 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 1.0 3-point field goals made in 20.3 minutes. He did so on a slash line of .421/.322/.791.
Schröder’s per game averages translate to 19.5 points, 7.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.7 3-point field goals made per 36 minutes.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Schröder will average 20 points and eight assists in 2016-17, but he’s shown flashes of brilliance. He’s also been Mike Budenholzer’s preferred point guard during the closing moments of a number of playoff games.
It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Schröder replaced Teague.
Now that he has, it’s only right to commit.
Budenholzer began playing Schröder over Teague in late-game situations in 2014-15 and continued to do so in 2015-16. Atlanta then traded Teague, an All-Star, to clear room for Schröder to take over as the starter in 2016-17.
Having already sent Teague elsewhere, the next logical step was to guarantee that he wouldn’t walk via free agency after just one season as the starting point guard.
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Whether or not it was an overpay, the Atlanta Hawks made the right decision by signing Dennis Schröder to a new four-year deal.