In mid December, the Golden State Warriors acquired Dennis Schroder from the Brooklyn Nets. Now in his 12th season, the 6-foot-1 guard was playing some of the best basketball of his career with Brooklyn this season prior to being dealt. That success hasn’t traveled with him to California. On Wednesday, head coach Steve Kerr decided to bring Dennis Schroder off the bench for the first time.
Warriors Finally Bench Struggling Trade Acquisition Wednesday
Dennis Schroder Came Off Bench For First Time This Season
On Wednesday night, the Warriors went on the road to take on the Sacramento Kings. Golden State continued their slumping ways as they fell to under .500 at 21-22 after losing by the score of 124-117.
For the first time this season (whether with Nets or Warriors), Schroder was not in the starting lineup in a game he played. Taking his place with the starters was Buddy Hield. Coming off the bench Wednesday, the 31-year-old Schroder played 21 minutes. He finished the outing with seven points (3-8 field goal shooting, 1-3 on three-pointers) to go along with three rebounds, five assists, and five turnovers.
Even with shooting just 37.5% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc on Wednesday, those actually upped the marks Schroder has since joining Golden State. He has now appeared in 18 games for the team. With the Warriors, Schroder has ugly shooting marks of 35.9% from the field and 28.6% from three-point territory. He is averaging 10.4 points and 4.3 assists in 27.1 minutes with Golden State.
That is a far cry from the efficiency Schroder showed with Brooklyn. Prior to being dealt, he played in 23 games for the Nets. In those, he shot 45.2% from the field and 38.7% on three-point tries. With the team, he posted averages of 18.4 points and 6.6 assists in 33.6 minutes.
The analytics also show a stark difference in Schroder’s play with Golden State compared to Brooklyn this season. He had an above-average 16.3 PER with the Nets, and it’s at a miserable 6.8 with the Warriors. He averaged .096 win shares per 48 minutes with Brooklyn and is at -.025 with Golden State.
Golden State’s Descent Down The Western Conference Standings
It may be hard to remember, but Golden State actually started the season with a 10-2 record. Coach Kerr was rolling out a deep 12-man rotation, and it was paying immense dividends. Pundits and analysts were saying that the Warriors could potentially win another championship.
As mentioned though, Golden State is now under .500. Do the math. Since that 10-2 start, the team owns an 11-20 record. Those 31 games are just a 29-win pace over an 82-game season. That obviously isn’t championship level.
It certainly will be interested to see what the Warriors do up until the trade deadline on February 6. Both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have made comments stating that Golden State shouldn’t sabotage their future for ‘all-in’ moves. That makes sense. Right now, the Warriors wouldn’t even be in the Play-In Tournament as they are currently 11th in the Western Conference.
Can Golden State turn it around? They have 39 regular season games remaining. An uptick in Schroder’s production would help them be able to do so.
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