The Atlanta Hawks would have been watching the EuroBasket with interest despite not having an active player in the tournament. They would have had Bogdan Bogdanovic representing Serbia except for the knee procedure which sidelined him for three months after the last NBA season.
They have an ex-player playing in the final despite an indifferent game in the semis. Unfortunately for Dennis Schroder and Germany, another ex-Hawks player, they were knocked out in the semi-finals against Spain. There was always the chance that the Hawks might sign their ex-point guard to the final roster spot but it was not to be.
That potential has been removed with Schroder signing a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers per Shams of The Athletic. Now that Schroder has finished with his national team commitments, he is ready to come back to Los Angeles to start preparing for his season. However, let us take a look at how he and Germany went out of EuroBasket.
Ex-Atlanta Hawks guard almost carries Germany through to the EuroBasket final.
While there is a good chance that Shroder will be named EuroBasket MVP, his efforts against the second-best team in the world, Spain, were not enough to get Germany into the final. This was not a result of Schroder not having a good game. His final game of the tournament was one for the ages.
He was on the court for more than 35 minutes, which was longer than any player from either team. In that time Schroder put on a masterclass of guard play. He had 30 points, eight assists, two steals, and a rebound. His play was the main reason that Germany only lost by five points.
Only Schroder and Daniel Theis of the starters had a positive impact on the box score. This shows how much talent and experience have an impact on the court. Schroder has both of these in spades which is why he was able to lead Germany deep into the tournament as had been hoped prior to the tournament starting.