Dennis Schröder

Texas Notes: Green, Rockets, Schröder, Luka, Dragic

After a relatively lackluster showing in a relatively lackluster AT&T Slam Dunk Contest this weekend, Rockets rookie shooting guard Jalen Green is hoping to get another crack at the competition in the years to come, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“I for sure need a run-back,” Green said. “I messed up.”

In one of the stranger moments of the evening, Green handed Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, a judge for the contest, a necklace holding a cell phone displaying an NFT, then went on to botch his first eight dunk attempts before finally converting his ninth look, a slick windmill whose impact had been diluted, given that he failed to convert it earlier. Green was quickly eliminated.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

  • The rebuilding Rockets boast several solid prospects, to the point that the NBA has taken notice, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rookies Green, Alperen Sengun and Jae’Sean Tate all were honored with selections to the Rising Stars Game on Friday at All-Star Weekend, and Green made an aforementioned (ill-fated) appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday. “We are having a difficult season,” Sengun said. “We lost a bunch of games. I’ve learned how to stay focused during those lost games. I got a lot of experience.” At 15-43, the Rockets aren’t on track to qualify for the playoffs this season.
  • New Rockets reserve point guard Dennis Schröder is bringing his veteran experience and playoff pedigree to bear for a developing young Houston club, opines Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With John Wall inactive, Schröder has helped the Rockets with his speed and his defensive assertiveness, according to Houston head coach Stephen Silas. “(Schröder) adds to our depth, our guard rotation,” the head coach said. “There was actually a point [during the Rockets’ 124-121 loss to the Suns on Thursday that] I tried to take him out of the game, and he was like, ‘Just leave me in, let me see if we can get back into it.’ I like that competitiveness about him.”
  • Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic confirmed that he would enjoy playing with his countryman Goran Dragic, currently a free agent garnering plenty of buzz on the buyout market, but said he’s not pressing the Dallas front office to make a deal with the veteran point guard, writes Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.

Western Notes: Hyland, Mitchell, Schröder, McCollum, Lue

Nuggets rookie Bones Hyland will replace Kings rookie Davion Mitchell in the 2022 Rising Stars game Friday night in Cleveland, the NBA announced in a press release. Mitchell is currently suffering from a right hand injury.

Hyland, 21, was the No. 26 overall pick by Denver after two collegiate seasons with VCU. Through 46 games this season (18 MPG), he’s averaging 8.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG on .369/.346/.881 shooting.

Mitchell, 23, was the No. 9 overall pick by Sacramento after three collegiate seasons, the latter two with Baylor. He won a national championship with the Bears last season. Through 53 games this season (26 MPG), Mitchell is averaging 10.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 3.5 APG on .406/.326/.558 shooting.

Mitchell was also going to be part of the Clorox Clutch Challenge, a shooting competition where he was to team up with Scottie Barnes. The event will take place between the second and third Rising Stars games. A replacement will be announced soon, the league says.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Dennis Schröder has already shown how he can help the Rockets after just two games with his new club, writes Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle. Schröder started in place of the sick Kevin Porter Jr. Wednesday night and put up 23 points, six rebounds, and nine assists in 38 minutes in Houston’s 124-121 loss to Phoenix. Huq believes that Schröder’s addition will be beneficial for rookies Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, who had nice games of their own with the German point guard running the show. However, he’s concerned that Schröder might hurt the development of Josh Christopher, who has been a regular member of the team’s rotation over the past few months and played just nine and 11 minutes the past two games. Huq also thinks if Schröder plays too much he could help add a few wins, which would be detrimental to the team’s lottery odds.
  • CJ McCollum has been showcasing his stellar ability to create shots in his brief time with the Pelicans, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “It’s a process, man,” McCollum said. “I’m getting there. I like this type of challenge. It challenges you mentally. It challenges you physically. You have to study the game more and puts you in an uncomfortable environment. I’ve been in a comfortable environment my entire career. This is a great change for me and a great challenge.”
  • Clippers coach Tyronn Lue says that missing stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for much of the season has made him a better coach, per Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group. “It has definitely made me a better coach this year, just trying to scratch and claw and win a game every single night,” Lue said. “Usually, you are in the playoffs and you try to win one game (at a time). It’s like that every single night.” The resilient Clippers are currently 29-31, eighth in the West.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Rockets, Brooks, McCollum, Murray

The Mavericks project to go well into the luxury tax in 2022/23 if they re-sign point guard Jalen Brunson, but team owner Mark Cuban sounds prepared for that scenario.

“We’re going to be in luxury tax hell next year, but that’s OK; it frees up the year after that,” Cuban said after the trade deadline, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News.

The Mavericks have several contracts on their books that expire in 2023, including Dwight Powell‘s and Maxi Kleber‘s. Additionally, Spencer Dinwiddie and Reggie Bullock only have partial guarantees for 2023/24 on their respective deals.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Rockets general manager Rafael Stone explained after the trade deadline that the decision to move Daniel Theis was related in part to the emergence of rookie Alperen Sengun. “Positionally, it makes sense for us,” Stone said, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “It’s not a secret that Alperen has been really good, really early. It has been since his first practice a priority to play him. That made it challenging to play Daniel Theis the amount we wanted, he wanted, that he should be playing. He’s a really, really good established NBA player.” Stone added that the team is excited about acquiring Dennis Schröder and has liked him for “a long time,” suggesting a buyout probably isn’t in the cards for the veteran point guard.
  • A handful of teams have inquired on Armoni Brooks, who cleared waivers over the weekend after being waived by the Rockets, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Iko adds that the door remains open for Brooks to return to Houston. The team will have an open spot on its 15-man roster once Enes Freedom is officially waived.
  • CJ McCollum did plenty of research on the Pelicans before signing off on the trade sending him to New Orleans. According to Will Guillory of The Athletic, McCollum spoke to Chris Paul about Pelicans head coach Willie Green, talked to J.J. Redick about his experience with the franchise, and got intel about the roster from current Pelicans wing Garrett Temple. McCollum didn’t have a no-trade clause, but told reporters last week that Portland involved him in the trade process.
  • Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was initially shocked that the team traded away his backcourt partner, but by the time he spoke to reporters about the Derrick White trade, he had come to terms with it, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “You start to realize you’re a player and not the GM or the front office,” Murray said. “You realize, just be a player and focus on that.”

Celtics Notes: Theis, Schröder, Roster Openings, TPEs

New Celtics center Daniel Theis waived his 15% trade kicker as part of the trade that sent him from Houston back to Boston, reports Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Theis gave up $3MM+ as a result of that decision, since the bonus would’ve been worth 15% of the amount of guaranteed money left on his contract. At the time of the trade, the big man was still owed $20MM+ in guaranteed money over the next two-and-a-half seasons.

It’s unclear if Boston would’ve moved forward with the acquisition of Theis if he hadn’t been willing to waive his trade kicker. The Celtics will be able to fill out their 15-man roster while remaining slightly under the luxury tax, but those efforts would’ve been complicated if they’d had to account for a higher cap hit for Theis due to his trade bonus.

Here’s more on the C’s:

  • Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com hears that the Lakers were offering the Celtics “a couple of second-round picks and some minimum contracts” for Dennis Schröder before Boston sent him to Houston in a package for Theis. Los Angeles would’ve had to trade three minimum-salary players to match Schröder’s salary.
  • Brian Robb of MassLive.com evaluates the Celtics’ decision to trade for Theis rather than accepting the rumored Lakers offer, which he speculates might’ve included expendable veterans like DeAndre Jordan, Kent Bazemore, and Wayne Ellington. As Robb writes, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was looking for help in both the present and future, making Theis a better fit than those Lakers vets. Stevens also valued roster flexibility, per Robb — completing a one-for-three trade instead of a three-for-one deal would’ve meant the Celtics came out of the deadline with just one open roster spot instead of five.
  • The Celtics have already filled two of their five roster openings, and Stevens talked after the deadline about using one or two more of those open spots on young players, with an eye toward the future, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston relays. “We’ve got to look at a couple of young prospects that we can hopefully develop and make part of our long-term future and can find a great niche and fit within our team,” Stevens said. “I think a great example of that is a place like Miami that’s done that really well. They’ve found guys that other people passed on or missed on and have created a team that has really, really good players making a lot of money, and really, really good players that are just starting out in their career, but have found the perfect fit.”
  • The Celtics decided not to use their $17MM+ Evan Fournier trade exception to absorb Derrick White‘s incoming salary last Thursday, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. If they’d gone that route, the Celtics could’ve created a new $11.6MM trade exception (using Josh Richardson‘s outgoing salary), which wouldn’t have expired until the 2023 trade deadline. Instead, the team opted to keep the bigger exception, which will expire during the 2022 offseason.

Rockets Notes: Schröder, Stone, Wood, Gordon

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone expressed optimism that newly acquired guard Dennis Schröder will fit well with the team, Alykhan Bijani of The Athletic tweets. Houston traded for the 28-year-old earlier this week.

“I think the style of basketball we play, we’re either the fastest or top 3-4 fastest in the NBA,” Stone said. “And he’s electric in the open court, and an above average defender. I think it’s gonna be a good fit, both ways.”

Schröder had been considered a possible buyout candidate following his trade from Boston to Houston, but Stone’s comments suggest that’s not the team’s plan. If the Rockets do choose to keep Schröder, he’d provide backcourt depth behind starting guards Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr.

In 49 games this season, Schröder has averaged 14.4 points and 4.2 assists in 29.2 minutes per contest. He’s shot 44% from the floor and 35% from deep during those outings.

Here are some other notes from Houston:

  • Kelly Iko of The Athletic hosted a Q&A with veteran big man Christian Wood before the trade deadline, discussing the team’s rebuild, Wood’s individual growth and more. Wood has played in 52 of his team’s 55 games this season, averaging 17.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest.
  • Stone expressed confidence that Eric Gordon wants to be in Houston after not being moved in a deadline deal, Alykhan Bijani tweets. “Eric wants to be here. I feel really comfortable talking about that,” Stone said. The 33-year-old is set to make $19.6MM next season and holds a $20.1MM team option for the 2023/24 campaign, so he could be a trade candidate again in the offseason or at next year’s deadline.
  • Stone also discussed whether the team received trade offers for Wood and Gordon, explaining why he didn’t move either of the players. “We obviously didn’t receive an offer that we wanted to do more than we wanted to keep the guys. I think they’re important parts of this team,” Stone said as part of a larger quote, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 (Twitter link).

Lakers Sought Trades With Knicks, Raptors, Celtics

Rival executives tried to take advantage of the Lakers’ predicament, which ultimately led to VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka standing pat at the trade deadline, according to The Athletic’s Bill Oram.

Other teams wanted the Lakers to take on bad contracts or give up their limited draft capital, including their 2027 first round pick, to facilitate potential deals, according to Oram.

The Lakers were unable to gain any traction on a potential Russell Westbrook deal. They tried to put together some lower-level deals, including a proposed three-way trade with the Knicks and Raptors. Toronto big men Khem Birch and Chris Boucher and Knicks wing Cam Reddish could have been on the move, but those fell apart after the other two teams couldn’t agree on draft compensation.

The Lakers also mulled a possible reunion with Dennis Schröder, though there was some pushback from some members of the organization. The Lakers still pursued a deal with the Celtics but Boston’s high asking price ended those negotiations. The Celtics wound up trading Schröder to Houston.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis were consulted on potential trades and understood why Pelinka chose to stand pat, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“You can’t force another team to present yourself with a deal that is going to make your team be better. That’s up to them,” Pelinka said. “And throughout this process we had different things we looked at and like I’ve done in the past had conversations with LeBron and Anthony about it and I would say there’s alignment here. And that’s all that matters.”

The Lakers will monitor the buyout market but would have to waive a player since their roster is full.

Rockets Trade Daniel Theis To Celtics For Schröder, Two Others

8:27pm: The trade is official, according to press releases from both the Celtics and Rockets. As expected, Houston has officially waived guards D.J. Augustin and Armoni Brooks in order to complete the deal.


2:03pm: The Rockets are sending Daniel Theis back to the Celtics, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that it will be for a package including Dennis Schröder.

Sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando are also be headed to Houston in the deal. Woj reports that the Rockets will waive Freedom (via Twitter).

After sending Bol Bol and PJ Dozier to Orlando, agreeing to trade Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford to San Antonio in exchange for Derrick White, and now dealing three players for one, the Celtics have opened five roster spots today and figure to be aggressive on the buyout market.

Theis, 29, started his NBA career in Boston, appearing in parts of four season with the club prior to being traded to Chicago at last season’s deadline.

He signed a four-year, $35.6MM contract with Houston as a free agent last summer, with the 2024/25 season being a team option. It was a strange signing for a rebuilding Rockets team that had just used two first-round picks on young big men Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba. Theis had fallen out of the team’s rotation as it prioritized youth, averaging 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds through 26 games (22.5 minutes).

Theis will provide a major defensive upgrade over Freedom and should see some backup center minutes for his old team. Obviously, the Celtics have a high level of familiarity with the German big man, and he’s been teammates with the majority of the roster after just being dealt away last year.

For the Rockets, the move is mostly about clearing their books. Schröder is having another decent year, averaging 14.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists through 49 games (29.2 minutes), but he’s on an expiring $5.9MM contract, which was the main appeal. Freedom and Fernando are also in the final year of their respective deals.

Fernando can become a restricted free agent this summer if Houston tenders him a qualifying offer, but that seems unlikely given the limited contributions he’s provided this point in his career. Still, the Rockets get a look at 23-year-old big man to see if they want to keep him around beyond this season.

It will be interesting to see if a market develops for Schröder this summer after he failed to secure the large contract he was hoping for in 2021. I suspect he’ll still fall in the mid-level exception range, as not many teams will have cash to spend on free agents in 2022.

Celtics Trade Bol Bol, PJ Dozier To Magic

1:16pm: The deal is official, according to a press release from the Magic. As expected, the team has waived Moore and Carter-Williams.


1:00pm: The Magic will acquire the Celtics’ 2028 second-round pick (top-45 protected) in the deal, while Boston will get the Magic’s 2023 second-rounder (top-55 protected), reports Price (via Twitter).


12:12pm: The Magic will waive veteran guard E’Twaun Moore as part of the deal, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Orlando is also cutting Michael Carter-Williams, tweets Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Both players have been out all season due to injuries.

Brian Robb of MassLive.com confirms (via Twitter) that the second-round pick headed to Boston in the deal will be heavily protected and likely won’t convey.


11:34am: The Celtics have reached an agreement to trade injured players Bol Bol and PJ Dozier to the Magic, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). It’s a cost-cutting move for the Celtics, who will dip below the luxury tax line as a result of the deal.

Boston is sending a second-round pick and cash to Orlando and will get a second-round pick in return, Wojnarowski reports. I’d expect the second-rounder headed to the Celtics to be heavily protected, but we’ll await further details.

Bol and Dozier were sent from Denver to Boston earlier this season in a three-team trade, but neither player was part of the Celtics’ short- or long-term plans. Bol underwent foot surgery that is expected to sideline him for most or all of the season, while Dozier is recovering from a surgery of his own to repair a torn ACL and won’t play until 2022/23.

Both players are on expiring deals, with Bol earning $2.2MM this season and Dozier making $1.9MM. Orlando will acquire both players using trade exceptions, while Boston will create a pair of new trade exceptions equivalent to their salaries.

The Celtics now have a pair of open roster spots and will remain out of tax territory even in the unlikely event that Jaylen Brown is named an All-Star replacement and earns a bonus. As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), the C’s would’ve had a small tax bill of about $2MM if they hadn’t made a move, but they’re now in line to receive a potential eight-figure payout.

While Boston doesn’t have to make any more moves today, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that there are still three or four teams in the mix for Dennis Schröder, with one source estimating there’s a 50/50 chance of a deal.

The Magic have a full 15-man roster, so they’ll have to make at least one more move in order to accommodate the incoming players.

Lakers Unlikely To Trade Westbrook, Targeting Role Players

The Lakers are unlikely to make a trade involving Russell Westbrook today and are focusing more on smaller deals involving “fringe starters,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on Get Up this morning (video link).

A Lakers team source previously told Dave McMenamin of ESPN (video link) that he would like to see the club “rip the bandaid off” by moving Westbrook, but doing so will be extremely difficult.

“With $47 million due to him next season, there’s just not a marketplace to do that,” Wojnarowksi said, referring to Westbrook’s pricey player option for 2022/23 that no team will want to take on. “The Lakers have shown a real reluctance to incentivize a deal, meaning add draft picks to it. They have picks that are still going out in other deals. At what point do you stop just completely mortgaging your future for deals that probably don’t result in all of a sudden you having a championship contender? And now you’ve just dug yourself a deeper hole.”

As Wojnarowski points out, the Lakers’ problems run deeper than just Westbrook. The former MVP didn’t play on Wednesday due to back tightness and L.A. still lost to a retooling Portland team missing several players. Rather than trying to trade Westbrook, the Lakers are exploring the market for ways to improve the roster around him, says Wojnarowski.

“Right now, the deals the Lakers are really looking at, they’re around the fringes,” Woj said. “Players like Alec Burks in New York, Dennis Schröder in Boston. Any number of role players, of fringe starters, that they might be able to cobble together the assets to get. But the idea of a Westbrook trade? Listen, nothing’s impossible, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

An earlier report stated that the Lakers, Knicks, and Raptors had discussed the framework of a three-team trade that would involve Burks. However, Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) hears from one party with interest in the situation that those talks were stalled as of Thursday morning.

Schröder, of course, was formerly a Laker before leaving as a free agent during the 2021 offseason to sign with the Celtics. Bill Oram of The Athletic reported earlier this week that Schröder had some interest in returning to Los Angeles as Westbrook’s backup last summer, but the team brought in Kendrick Nunn to fill that role instead. Nunn has yet to make his Lakers debut due to a knee injury.

Trade Rumors: Barnes, Lakers, P. Washington, Bulls

As Thursday’s trade deadline nears, the Kings have been sending signals that they plan to hang onto forward Harrison Barnes, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Barnes has been a frequent subject of recent trade rumors, with one report earlier today stating that the Kings were still very much open to discussing him. A follow-up report said Sacramento only wanted win-now pieces in any deal involving the veteran forward, since the team still has playoff aspirations.

It seems safe to assume that most teams with interest in Barnes are other contenders or playoff hopefuls — those clubs would likely be more inclined to give up draft picks and young prospects than players who can contribute right away, so it makes sense that the Kings are having a tough time finding a deal they like.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

  • The Lakers have been “very reluctant” to give up a future first-round pick in any deadline trade, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said today (video link). According to Bill Oram of The Athletic, prior to Tuesday, it seemed the front office’s preference was to wait until the offseason to do anything major, since the team’s 2029 first-round pick will become eligible to be traded at that time — L.A. could theoretically package its ’27 and ’29 first-rounders in the summer. Tuesday’s loss reportedly helped create a greater sense of urgency in the Lakers’ locker room to make a deadline move, so it will be interesting to see how the front office responds.
  • The Hornets aren’t shopping forward P.J. Washington, but they’ve been willing to listen to calls about him, according to Jordan Schultz, who reports (via Twitter) that the Heat, Raptors, and Rockets are among the teams with interest in Washington.
  • Bulls guard Coby White has been mentioned off and on this season as a possible trade candidate, but he doesn’t sound too concerned about what will happen at the deadline, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago relays. “I think I’ll be here past the deadline,” White said. “I haven’t really been worried about it.”
  • According to Johnson, there’s not much buzz right now about the Bulls making a major splash at the deadline. League sources tell Johnson that Chicago seems more interested in a frontcourt addition than acquiring a player like Dennis Schröder. Two of Johnson’s sources said the team’s reported interest in Schröder has been overstated.