Schroder Debut Makes It Clear He Is Nets’ Best Option At Point Guard
The old cliché that you only get one chance to make a first impression certainly gave newly-acquired Nets guard Dennis Schroder a nice runway following his 15-point, 12-assist debut performance in Brooklyn’s 123-103 rout of the tanking Spurs on Saturday at Barclays Center.
Schroder, who came over from Toronto at Thursday’s trade deadline, won over the fans immediately after checking in midway through the first quarter with his ability to function as a lead guard. He settled down the offense, made accurate passes off pick-and-rolls (and how about that lob to Nic Claxton from a deep sideline out of bounds play with 0.4 seconds remaining to beat the third quarter horn), and knocked down his first three three-point attempts.
In other words, exactly what Spencer Dinwiddie, for whom Schroder was traded, wasn’t.
Though this one-game sample from Schroder needs to be tempered due to the competition quality, even Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn noticed a difference, taking a not-so-thinly veiled swipe at Schorder’s predecessor during his postgame press conference by calling Schroder “a professional” who has won “high-stakes games.”
Several of those games were as recently as last summer, when Schroder led relatively unheralded Germany to a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup following an upset over Team USA in the semifinals. The American squad included Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.
Ordinarily, a player who exhibits Schroder’s leadership and three-level scoring ability would be thrust into the starting lineup and left alone, even if his size (6-foot 1, 175 pounds) isn’t a great fit on a defense that switches everything. Only the Nets World is not ordinary.
Vaughn and the Nets have to mind the mind of fragile Ben Simmons, who has gone public with his wish to start during his minutes-restricted ramp-up following his return from a back injury that cost him 38 games. Oh, and he wants to start at point guard too.
So, in Brooklyn’s last three games, Vaughn has caved. How’s it going, you ask? Cue the “Made Men” Peter Campbell GIF: “Not great, Bob!”
The sample size of the metrics is too small to enter into evidence, but rest assured they are very bad. The Nets outscored the Spurs—the godawful Spurs—by one point during the 11 shared Claxton/Simmons minutes on Saturday. How do you think they’re going to fare when they face a more locked-in team in Boston during their home-and-home starting on Tuesday in Brooklyn? Well, at least in the game Simmons plays because you could bet that back-to-backs are still off the table.
I would point to Vaughn’s decision to pull Claxton after just 1:23 into Saturday’s third quarter action in favor of guard Lonnie Walker IV as a key moment in Brooklyn’s victory. Maybe Vaughn learned something from Thursday’s devasting 21-0 Cleveland run to open the second half, of which the first 15 points came before he broke up his two non-shooting starters.
We’ll see. It should be clear to everyone in the Nets organization that Simmons, the team’s highest paid player, cannot be effective in a halfcourt offense when the floor isn’t properly spaced. It’s that obvious. The paint is so packed that Bridges and Cam Thomas have to work extra hard just to find room to get off difficult shots. Brooklyn’s best offensive outing of the season came in Simmons’ return game against Utah on January 29. Their February 3 victory in Philadelphia saw their third-best offensive efficiency. It isn’t a coincidence that Vaughn kept Simmons and Claxton apart throughout each contest.
When Dinwiddie appeared to be sulking through a rough stretch in advance of the trade deadline and injuries depleted the roster, the Nets really didn’t have a choice. It was either Simmons or Dennis Smith Jr., a 28.4% three-point shooter, in Brooklyn’s starting five.
With Schroder on board, I think they do now. Give him the ball at the start. He can play at Vaughn’s preferred fast pace and knows how to get others involved. And he can make enough open shots to keep opposing defenses honest. The Nets will likely struggle on their defensive end given the nightly size differential, but at least should be able to keep pace on the scoreboard.
Here’s an ideal nine-man rotation (with everyone healthy):
Starters: Claxton, Bridges, Johnson, Schroder, Thomas
Bench: Simmons, Dorian Finney-Smith, Walker IV. Jalen Wilson
Depth: Smith Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe, Trendon Watford, Keita Bates-Diop, Noah Clowney
The Nets (21-31) are 2.5 games behind the Hawks for the 10th and last play-in seed. With their own 2024 first round pick headed to Houston as part of the 2021 James Harden blockbuster, they have no reason to tank. The only chance Brooklyn has to get into the tournament is if Vaughn puts the five pieces on the floor who fit the best, instead of continuing to keep pounding Simmons’ square head into a round hole.