The Golden State Warriors aren’t done making moves after agreeing to a deal on Saturday, December 14, with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, according to ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania.
“And this doesn’t keep the Warriors outside the big game hunting, I’m told,” Charania reported during the ABC “NBA Countdown” for the Emirates NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas. “They remain active in the hunt for a star player, and they can aggregate Schröder’s contract in a bigger move later this season.”
The Warriors are sending three future second-round picks in addition to De’Anthony Melton‘s expiring $12.8 million contract to the Nets. In return, the Warriors are also receiving one future second-round pick from the Nets in addition to the 31-year-old German point guard.
Schröder has an expiring $13 million contract.
Jimmy Butler Trade Could Be Warriors’ Next Move
The Warriors have been listed as one of the four preferred destinations of six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler if the Miami Heat decide to trade him. Golden State can aggregate Schröder’s contract along with several players on its roster to match Butler’s $48.8 million salary for this season.
The other three teams on Butler’s wish list are the two Texas teams — Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks — and the Phoenix Suns, per Charania.
Butler holds a $52.4 million player option, which he intends to decline to enter unrestricted free agency, Charania earlier reported.
According to Substack’s NBA insider Marc Stein, the Warriors’ interest in Butler is the strongest among the four teams mentioned as potential landing spots.
“League insiders continue to describe Golden State, as things currently stand, as the only team of the four most frequently mentioned as potential Butler suitors as having an interest in the 35-year-old that could eventually lead to some substantive trade talks,” Stein wrote.
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone already went on record that they do not plan to make a big trade, thus officially backing out from the Butler sweepstakes.
The Mavericks have also “not registered tangible interest in a Butler trade pursuit,” according to Stein, while a Suns trade is more complicated due to Bradley Beal‘s no-trade clause and his enormous $110 million remaining salary after this season on top of his injury woes since moving to Phoenix.
Steve Kerr’s Vision for Dennis Schröder’s Role
According to Charania, Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, along with coach Steve Kerr, advocated for the Schröder trade.
“They have a lot of respect for him,” Charania said. “They’re excited about this edition. They played against him in those Team USA-Germany matches in the playoffs over the years.”
Schröder was Kerr’s biggest headache in the FIBA World Cup in Manila last year as the 6-foot-1 point guard led Germany to the gold medal and won tournament MVP.
Schröder has enjoyed a great start with the Nets, averaging 18.4 points and a career-high 6.6 assists in 33.6 minutes per game. He’s also become a volume 3-point shooter this season, attempting a career-high 6.5 3-pointers per game on nearly 39% shooting, which perfectly fits the Warriors style of play.
According to Charania, the Warriors envision Schröder to start next to Curry, which was similar to Melton’s role with the team before his season-ending ACL injury that hastened his departure and torpedoed the team’s rotation.
Reporting for ABC NBA Countdown on Golden State making the first big acquisition of trade season – Brooklyn’s Dennis Schroder – and how the Warriors approach deadline under two months away: pic.twitter.com/JLmE0vDQbE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 15, 2024
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The Warriors were 4-2 with Melton, and they are 5-8 since he went down with the devastating injury.
Kerr and the Warriors are hoping Schröder’s addition would restore order.
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