The On-Court Importance of the Dennis Schroder Trade

Despite a slow start to the offseason, news broke late last week that the Atlanta Hawks had traded Dennis Schroder to the Thunder for Carmelo Anthony.

Though Melo will not play a single second in a Hawks uniform, the team was able to finagle a 2022 lottery-protected first round pick out of the Thunder, while also obtaining a low-risk, low-cost flyer in Justin Anderson from the 76ers.

This was an excellent deal from the Hawks’ perspective, but it does beg the question: How will the Hawks look on the court in the 2018-19 season?

First off, the loss of Mike Muscala as a prototypical stretch five will be deeply felt, but with the Hawks drafting a more athletic and younger replacement in Omari Spellman, it’s not as much of an issue in terms of on-court changes.

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With Schröder gone, the Hawks now have two clear-cut options at point guard, Jeremy Lin and Trae Young. Since DS17 was not much of a shooter, both of those players should have acres of space to play in, allowing them to slice and dice defenses when they’re surrounded by shooters.

Again, now that Schröd is no longer on the roster, the team can roll out multiple players with at least the semblance of a solid jump shot. Here’s a short list: Kent Bazemore, Trae Young, Tyler Dorsey, Kevin Huerter, Taurean Prince, Omari Spellman, John Collins and Jaylen Adams (whenever he’s with the big club).

Another new player on the team will be Justin Anderson, and his addition also brings multiple new wrinkles to the Hawks on-court activities. Perhaps most importantly, and in a more macro sense, Anderson plays the scarcest position in the NBA at the three.

The acquisition of Anderson means the Hawks now have three players whose natural position is at the small forward spot: Anderson, Prince and DeAndre’ Bembry – compared to some other teams, that’s an absolute wealth of depth at the three.

Anderson’s acquisition also means the Hawks have 10 players with a combined total of 10 years of NBA experience – with Anderson taking the lion’s share at 3 years’ experience.

That makes the team extraordinarily youthful and, in terms of on-court performance, exceptionally athletic and full of upside. In recent years, when the Hawks were making the playoffs 10 straight times, the teams were never particularly athletic or explosive – relying more on system and craft than athleticism.

With the 2018-19 Hawks, that is not the case. Though Schröder had plenty of physical tools, he rarely employed them to their full effect as a member of the Hawks. Now that his lack of effort on defense is gone, the young Hawks can spread their wings and sprint all over the court with effort and intensity.

The effort and intensity from veterans like Dewayne Dedmon and Bazemore should also help with that mentality.

The Hawks definitely have a new look going into the 2018-19 season, but it was certainly time for a change. It should be a fun season, but there’s a long way to go until the Hawks play another game.

Next: Hawks Projected Starting Lineup for 18-19 Season

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