This season's NBA has seen many surprising teams, such as the Rockets ranking in the top 3 of the Western Conference and the Cavaliers consistently holding the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, both exceeding expectations. At the same time, there are also many disappointing teams, such as the Bucks who kept losing at the beginning of the season and the Kings who have already fired their coach Mike Brown, whose performances were too abstract and embarrassing. However, when it comes to the team with the biggest ups and downs this season, the Golden State Warriors undoubtedly deserve the title. They ranked first in the West with a record of 12 wins and 3 losses after the first 15 regular season games, but now that 30 games have passed, the Warriors' record has come to 15 wins and 15 losses, falling out of the top 10 in the West. Joining the Warriors for 13 million, not fitting in with the Golden State philosophy, the trade has put you in an awkward position.
A month ago, Warriors fans were still calling for a championship run, trying to replicate the miracle of 2022. However, in just a short month, media and fans have started to wonder if this Warriors team will miss the playoffs for another consecutive season. On one hand, the competition in the West is indeed fierce, but on the other hand, the Warriors' recent poor performance has been suffocating and frustrating. In such a volatile emotional state, no one can find their place, especially the Warriors management. In a hurry, they have already started looking for trade targets in the market, hoping to turn the situation around and give Curry and Green another chance to compete for the championship at the end of their careers. However, the Warriors, in a rush to cure their illness, have made a wrong decision.
Looking at it now, the trade where the Warriors used Melton and two second-round draft picks to acquire Dennis Schroder can be considered a double loss. Of course, the awkward situation is not for the Nets, but for Schroder and the Warriors. From the Warriors' perspective, Schroder has not only failed to perform as he did during his time with the Nets, but he is also far from reaching his career average level, appearing incompatible with the team's style. In five games, Schroder started all of them, yet the Warriors only managed one win and four losses. Schroder himself only scored in double digits once. To put this into context, during his time with the Nets, Schroder almost scored over 20 points in half of the games, with half of those scoring around 30 points.
Even though NBA journalist Shams has revealed that the Warriors do not rule out the possibility of further trading Schroder, if he were to be used as a trade chip now, his performance would only make him an expiring contract with little trade value. This means that if the Warriors want to get something valuable in return, they would have to include draft picks, which essentially means that the draft picks sent away in the Melton trade would have been wasted. From Schroder's point of view, he has once again fallen into a career low. Despite being excited upon joining the Warriors, reality has given him another hard blow. Whether it's the system or the lineup, the Warriors are not suitable for him.
I won't go into too much detail about personal performance, but Schroder's average statistics are all worse than during his time with the Nets, with a cliff-like decline. His scoring, rebounding, and steals are less than half of what they were with the Nets, and his shooting percentage and three-point percentage are a meager 28.0% and 17.4%, respectively, which is simply unbearable to watch. Looking at his on-court performance, Schroder is also struggling. He is a player with distinct characteristics, but the Warriors' lineup does not bring out his strengths; instead, it magnifies his weaknesses. Let's start with the offensive end. Schroder needs big men with shooting ability and risks, or at the very least, strong rim-running capabilities. For example, German national team players like Ties and Little Wagner can shoot.
During his time with the Lakers, Davis and the Nets' Claxton had excellent finishing abilities under the basket. Looking at the Warriors, Looney, Green, TJD, and Kuminga have none of them with stable shooting abilities beyond the three-point line. When it comes to rim-running, the best among them is TJD, who has the worst talent, and the poor spacing completely stifles Schroder's breakthrough speed. Defensively, Schroder cannot switch defenses, and any player with a shooting guard physique has an advantage over him. Yet the Warriors are a team that primarily defends through switches. Schroder needs big men who can handle double-teaming for short periods, allowing him to squeeze through or navigate screens.
In that split second, the frontcourt needs to handle double-teaming, giving Schroder time to catch up with the ball-handler. The only Warrior capable of doing this is Green, unfortunately, he is already 34 years old. In other words, the Warriors lack the kind of lineup Schroder prefers on both offense and defense, and his preferred playing style cannot be executed within the Warriors. Only very optimistic fans believe that the integration between Schroder and the Warriors will take a long time, while slightly more pessimistic people consider this trade a failure. Moreover, considering Schroder's perspective, he has no time left. This season is Schroder's contract year, earning him an annual salary of 13 million, based on his previous performance with the Lakers. Even if he were to finish the entire season with the Nets without making the playoffs, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Schroder could secure a contract worth around 10 million annually in the market. However, now trapped within the Warriors' system, continuing like this could make it difficult for Schroder to even obtain a mid-level exception during the offseason.