ATLANTA — Could Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder be on the verge of requesting a trade from Atlanta?
At this point, it's a matter of interpretation.
According to a series of Tweets from David Hein, a Germany-based basketball reporter with the International Basketball Federation, Schroder gave a press conference in his native country on Monday and diplomatically played both sides to whether he'd like to remain with the Hawks through the 2021 season – when his contract comes off the books.
Here's the timeline of Hein tweets, regarding Schroder:
"I don't know what the (Hawks) organization has in mind, that's why I'm going back in a week. Of course, Atlanta is my city. I was drafted there, have lots of memories; but like I said, I have to do individually what's best for me."
"I will talk to the general manager (Travis Schlenk) and the owner of the team (Tony Ressler), and we will talk about the organization and what they want to do in the future. My agent will also be there, and he will talk to them (Tuesday) and Wednesday to see how it continues on."
"Of course, I have my thoughts and my friends with other teams. For example, Indiana wouldn't be too bad, Milwaukee wouldn't be too bad. Those are the two teams where you can say the 'organization' is going in the right direction."
"I will be 25 in September and of course you want to win a title some time. In my prime—25, 26, 27, 28, 29—I want to compete (for a championship). I cannot be second-to-last in the Eastern Conference. That's why I will have talks with the Atlanta Hawks."
The rebuilding Hawks will have plenty of salary cap space in the summer of 2019, regardless of whether Schroder remains in Atlanta for another season, according to Spotrac.com, a Web site which tracks NBA team salaries.
According to Spotrac, Schroder is slated to make $46.5 million over the next three years—or $15.5 million per season.
For the 2017-18 season, according to Spotrac, Schroder had the 14th-highest salary among point guards. Over the previous two seasons, coinciding with the Hawks trading fellow point guard Jeff Teague, Schroder has enjoyed boosted per-game averages of 18.6 points, 6.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal, 0.2 blocks and shooting percentages of 44 percent (overall) and 32 percent (three-point range).
For what it's worth, if Schroder truly covets a trade to the Bucks or Pacers, the franchises would likely have to get creative in their pursuit of the five-year NBA veteran—compared to other clubs with better draft assets.
Right now, Milwaukee and Indiana own the 17th and 23rd overall choices in next month's NBA draft; and neither franchise holds the current rights to a Round 2 selection.
On the flip side, thanks to a number of trades from previous summers, Atlanta momentarily has four draft picks in the top 33.
By all accounts, Schroder has no immediate connection to Lloyd Pierce, who was introduced as the Hawks' head coach on Monday afternoon.
