Celtics Rival an ‘Intriguing’ Suitor for Dennis Schroder as Trade Buzz Mounts: Insider

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Boston Celtics guard Dennis Schroder.

If one Celtics guard doesn’t pan out… try, try and try again.

The Kemba Walker experiment in New York has been an utter flop. The four-time All-Star lasted all of 18 games in the Knicks rotation before Tom Thibodeau pulled the plug on the hometown hero. With veteran journeyman Alec Burks now manning lead-guard duties for a team plummeting down the Eastern Conference ranks (2-8 over their last 10 games), it’s safe to say the Knicks would welcome an upgrade at point guard ahead of the February 10 trade deadline.

Should the team ultimately snoop around the guard market, Fred Katz of The Athletic believes revisiting the Boston pipeline could prove beneficial.

“Dennis Schröder is intriguing. [Shams] Charania also reported that rival executives believe the Celtics could be open to taking calls on him,” wrote Katz. “He’s on a one-year contract. History says a player of his caliber on an expiring deal requires a couple of second-rounders, plus necessary salary, to snatch. He would be a low-risk upgrade.”

Celtics Expected to Shop Schroder

As Katz cites, Charania reported on December 13 that “Rival teams expect the Celtics to be open to talks around guard Dennis Schröder, who inked a one-year deal with Boston in the offseason but has had a strong season that likely prices him out of a potential re-signing.”

While Schroder was essentialy always viewed as a short-term piece for the Celtics, trade speculation has begun to ramp up in recent weeks with Boston once again floating around a  .500 record.

As highlighted by NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg, the Cs “can use the non-Bird exception to re-sign Schroder after only one season of service in green. Boston can offer him up to 120 percent of his 2021-22 salary — or $7 million.” In other words, the German guard has likely priced himself out of the Celtics’ future plans.

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Schroder’s Time in Boston Coming to a Premature End?

In his first season in Boston, Schroder has moonlighted as Boston’s second scoring option with All-Star Jaylen Brown readily hobbled. In 27 games (17 starts) this season, he’s shooting a career-best 43.8% from the field while averaging 17.1 points and 4.8 assists per contest.

While he may have difficulty landing a deal similar to the rumored $84 million extension he rejected with the Los Angeles Lakers a season ago, Schroder has definitely made the most of his one-year, $5.89 million “prove it” deal with the Celtics this season.

With that in mind, it’s plausible to question whether Boston’s best bet would be to recoup some value by moving Schroder ahead of the deadline for some future draft assets and cap flexibility. He could also be theoretically used in a package to yield the Celtics some added firepower — preferably shooting. Then again, if the team’s efforts against the defending champs in Jaylen Brown’s recent return to the lineup is a glimpse of what’s to come, maybe staying put in hopes of making a run isn’t too farfetched after all.

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