Dennis Schroder chose the Sacramento Kings over the Detroit Pistons in free agency, as they were able to offer him a bigger role. It was a loss for the Pistons, but also one they can take advantage of, as now they get to play against Schroder.
We’ve talked a lot about the impact Schroder had on the Pistons as a surehanded veteran who shined in the big moments.
We’ve also talked about his defense, which isn’t particularly good, but he is pesky, which is something Jaden Ivey could certainly learn from, especially when it comes to disrupting ballhandlers for the length of the court.
But Schroder is also small, and we saw him struggle at times against bigger guards, something the Pistons should be able to take advantage of when they play the Sacramento Kings next season.
Schroder is expected to be the starter, so he’ll have to guard someone, and regardless of who it is, the Pistons should have an advantage.
Detroit Pistons schedule: Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey should dominate Dennis Schroder
The Pistons will play the Kings in Sacramento on December 23rd and at home on January 25th.
As a backup last season, the Pistons were able to hide Schroder on lesser bench players. They also had guys like Isaiah Stewart and Ron Holland coming off the bench with him, so had some means to cover his weaknesses.
That won’t be the case next season with the Kings, as Schroder will likely be the starting point guard and will be surrounded by other players who can’t defend, including backcourt mate Zach LaVine and center Domantas Sabonis, whose shoddy defense isn’t going to help Schroder in the post.
If the Kings are foolish enough to put Schroder on Cade Cunningham, he should be able to play bully ball against Schroder, back him down and get easy looks in the paint or mid-range. This will cause the Kings to double and given their lack of defenders in the starting five, that’s something Cade should be able to exploit.
It’s more likely they try to hide Schroder on Ivey, who isn’t as efficient with the ball in his hands and certainly not as good at bullying smaller guards. But Ivey still has a size and speed advantage, and the Pistons can easily create other mismatches by screening Schroder off him and making him cover a bigger guy.
It’s not going to be as easy to hide Schroder if he’s playing 30+ minutes a game, which is the primary reason he’s better suited to be a backup at this point in his career. Schroder had a defensive rating of 116.6 last season and now has worse defenders around him and will have to play a bigger role.