The Boston Celtics have been one of the more disappointing teams thus far this NBA season. They underwent a ton of changes to the front office, coaching staff, and roster this offseason but those changes have yet to pay off.
Boston is currently 13-14, holding down the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference. They are a team lacking an identity currently, as they thought it would come on the defensive end of the court, but their production has slipped.
As a whole, the Celtics have lacked consistency. They don’t bring the effort necessary to win basketball games every night, which has caused some frustrations. Boston will show up one night and look like a top-tier team and then the very next game get run off the court.
Some of the moves they made in the offseason have not panned out as well as they had hoped, which has landed them in this predicament. But, one that has paid off is the signing of Dennis Schroder.
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Schroder signed a one-year, $5.9 million deal with the Celtics in free agency. He will mostly be remembered for declining a four-year extension from the Los Angeles Lakers last season thinking he could cash in for more in free agency. That miscalculation of his market cost him nearly $80 million but was a great value signing for Boston.
While it can be argued that Schroder isn’t worth $84 million, he is certainly worth more than the $5.9 million the Celtics are paying him. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award during the 2019-20 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder and has produced closer to that level this season with the Celtics.
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According to The Athletic, Schroder could be a trade candidate because of that level of production. Boston’s hands could be tied, as Schroder very well could be pricing himself out of town.
“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.”
Schroder is averaging 17.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 33.4 minutes per game. He has been a consistent third scoring option behind Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum whether Ime Udoka has him coming off the bench or playing alongside them in the starting five.
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While he likely won’t approach the $84 million he was reportedly offered by the Lakers, Dennis Schroder should be able to land a multi-year deal worth in the mid-teens annually. A deal similar to the one that Derrick Rose signed with the New York Knicks this offseason is something that should be attainable for Schroder.
