Atlanta Hawks: 3 potential Dennis Schroder trade destinations

2. Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic make a lot more sense as a trade partner. With Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross each entering contract years in 2018-19, Atlanta could use its cap space to absorb their contracts, maintaining cap space for a strong 2019 free agent class.

If the Magic were able to get Schroder, I could see them sliding him into the starting lineup. I know the team seems content giving point guard minutes to D.J. Augustin and trade acquisition Jerian Grant right now, but Schroder would be an upgrade over those two, at least if you look at scoring.

Looking at the analytics, there wasn’t much of a difference between Schroder, Grant or Augustin. Combine that with the fact that Schroder’s identical level of production comes with a heftier price tag and the chances for a potential deal seems slim. But this is the same team that gave Bismack Biyombo $72 million over four years and needs a point guard, so who knows what they will do?

At 24 years old, I could see the Magic front office talking themselves into thinking that Schroder has more upside than the 30-year-old Augustin or Grant, who has averaged 6.6 points for his career.

If Orlando thinks Schroder can blossom into a star, it could trade for him. At $15.5 million per season, the Magic had better be right.