Warriors acquiring Nets guard for Melton, second-round picks

Shams Charania reports that the Warriors are acquiring point guard Dennis Schroder, who has stymied Steve Kerr in both domestic and international playoffs recently.

The Golden State Warriors needed another ball handler. They got one who has tormented them in the recent past.

Shams Charania reported that the Warriors are “finalizing a deal” for Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder, who has foiled the Warriors and head coach Steve Kerr over the years. Most recently, he scored 17 points in the 4th quarter to help the Nets upset the Dubs Nov. 26. He averaged 12 points and a +11 during the Los Angeles Lakers’ four wins in their 2023 playoff win over the Warriors, and help Team Germany defeat Steve Kerr’s Team USA squad in the semifinals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Schroder is in the final year of a contract that pays him $13.025M this season. That’s roughly the same as De’Anthony Melton’s salary for this season, which is just enough of a difference that it might make the trade complicated. The Warriors are hard-capped at the first apron, which means there are restrictions on how much they can spend, but the $200K difference is within the Warriors’ wiggle room (just over $500K) under the apron. According to Charania, the Warriors are sending away three second-round picks and taking one back, almost assuredly containing complicated protections and conditions, because this is the NBA.

It’s possible that the league gets a small kickback from the “Dunc’d On” podcast to add extra complexity to all of their deals, which is easily paid for out of Casper mattress sponsorship money.

Brooklyn has been surprisingly competitive this season, after trading away Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Mikal Bridges since February. But as much as they’re exceeding expectations under new coach Jordi Fernandez, they’re still just 10-15. That would give them the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference if the season ended now. Still, they have the 8th-worst point differential in the NBA and probably don’t actually want to reach the postseason.

That’s because they made a deal with the Houston Rockets to reacquire their own first-round picks for the next two seasons. They lost many of those in trading for roughly 13 months of James Harden, which cost them the No. 3 pick in last summer’s draft, which became Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard. Having their own picks lets them tank, which a Schroder trade would certainly help them do.

Schroder is 31 years old and was very unlikely to be a part of Brooklyn’s future. For the Warriors, he provides a secondary ball handler and scorer, something the team has lacked, especially late in games. While Jonathan Kuminga has showed he can put the ball in the basket, he hasn’t shown a reliable handle yet.

Schroder is shooting 38.7% from three-point range, averaging 2.5 triples per game. He’s delivering 6.6 assists per game against 2.6 turnovers, a healthy ratio, and shooting a career-best 65.6% within three feet of the hoop, showing he can still get to the rim. Schroder is making 88.9% of his free throws, which would make him a godsend for the Warriors. He also has a gift for exaggerating contact.

There’s a few reasons this trade happened now. First, the Warriors are 4-8 in their last 12 games, blowing large leads in many of those losses. Second is that players signed to deals this summer become trade-eligible Dec. 15, so the Warriors wanted to get in before other teams had additional trade flexibility. The final reason is that Schroder proved he has a Golden State Warriors spirit by getting into it with the Memphis Grizzlies Friday night.

Taylor Jenkins is already preparing his medical materials in order to blame a Grizzlies injury on Schroder in a few months.

The downside is that Warriors fans will no longer be able to hate Schroder, who’s been a true villain for the organization for years. But after a full year of watching Chris Paul in a Warriors uniform, the team and the fan base can adjust to anything.

This trade doesn’t preclude future moves, though the expiring Melton deal was a very useful trade piece. Some people, including this author, would love to see the Warriors try to pick up recently-released center Paul Reed, a mobile big man who can shoot who could be available for the league minimum (and likely jettisoning Gui Santos).

It’s not a thrilling dude, but it absolutely plugs a hole for the Warriors. It’s beneficial that the move comes in mid-December, meaning they’ll have Schroder for more than 70% of the season. Mike Dunleavy, Jr. deserves credit for pulling the trigger early. Plus, we’re pretty sure that Schroder’s hair dye doesn’t count against the cap. We’ll have to confirm that with Nate Duncan.