NEW ORLEANS — Dennis Schroder is playing the best basketball of his life. He could end up playing his way right out of the Nets.
Even though the Nets are rebuilding, they have gotten off to a better-than-expected start with a veteran lineup led by Schroder. But his career year doesn't just worry fans who are actually looking forward to seeing him in action for the Nets.
He has received interest from teams around the league for potential trades.
“I've been in the league for 12 years and people have been talking about my name in trade talks for 12 years. [And] I’ve been traded twice,” Schroder told the Post on Monday night before the Nets played the Pelicans. “… So [gossip] It will happen. They use it as an event where they can advertise who is on the block. I don't really care.
“But I agree with this system now because they pay my check. And I do my job every day, and I'm always professional about it and I'm always going to make the most of it. Improve by 1% every day. And whatever happens, it happens. I understand it's business, but don't worry.”
Schroder, who scored 14 points in the Nets' 107-105 win over the Pelicans on Monday, has actually been traded four times, the first being from Atlanta to Oklahoma City, which he actually wanted. It was something. And at 31 years old and on a team-friendly $13 million expiring contract, he will likely draw interest from candidates around the league.
But Schroeder's point is well taken.
He has the most NBA experience on the roster and has learned to control what he can during that time. And even if Schroder can't control the Nets as they embark on a rebuild, he can control how they handle it.
But don't think for a second that he's thinking about tanking.
“For me in a rebuild, I've seen the statistics over the last 15 years that whoever was in the rebuild was going to lose and they never got anything out of it,” Schroeder said. “At the end of the day, we can have young players, sophomores, freshmen, juniors and rebuild. But we want to win in the process. We still want to win and hopefully We want to be a playoff team.
“That should be the goal of everyone who plays in the league, or anyone who plays basketball, to make the playoffs. And even though we're young, we have a good mix. … Young When people go in there and do what we do, they buy into it. [veterans are] What you do to start the game. And competing with every match and opponent is a great thing that we want to achieve. If we keep doing that, we'll be a great team again this year. ”
Upon arriving in New Orleans, Schroder averaged 20.1 points, 6.6 assists, 1.5 steals and .486/.463/.875 shooting splits.
All numbers were on pace for career-highs.
But it's on the defensive side that Schröder is able to make head coach Jordi Fernandez's full-court press work.
He entered Monday's game tied for third in the NBA in loose ball recoveries (11) and tied for 24th in steals.
“That's how I was able to lead the league in playing time,” Schroder told the Post. “I started off by being effective defensively, but I wasn’t that much of a threat offensively, so I just tried to impact the game defensively.
“Once I got into the league, my fielding time was up to 94 feet and it affected the game. Then over the years, the last few years I started getting to the basket, line, mid-range, three-point. But, yeah. , defensively, I like this style of play, because that's what I've been doing all my life. That's why I say this is a style of play that is familiar to me and it's easy for me. .”
As long as he's there.
Ben Simmons had a season-high 12 assists, including 10 with no turnovers in the first half. He joins Domantas Sabonis (Nov. 6 vs. Toronto) as the only players with double-digit assists without a turnover this season.
“I was having a little cramp. [in the second half]. So it's my responsibility to take care of that and take care of it,'' Simmons said, adding that he will be fine for Wednesday's game against Boston. “That slowed me down a little bit, but I was still able to find my guys and play, so that was good.”
Noah Clowney had 15 points and seven rebounds, making 5 of 10 from deep. At 20 years and 120 days old, he became the youngest player in Net history to make five threes in a game.
“That's what we have to do. My teammates found me when I got open. I've got to let it fly,” Clowney said.
When I asked him when he knew it was going to work, he replied: If you can make one, it will go up. So even if you don't earn anything, it's still going up. So it doesn't really matter. ”
Cam Johnson set an NBA record for 30 minutes without a turnover in seven games.
Giare Williams started in place of Dorian Finney-Smith, who was slowed by an ankle injury. Williams broke a streak of 14 consecutive misses from deep.
“[Finney-Smith] I felt it this morning after the shooting round,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “I'm probably not an expert in that area, but a sprained ankle isn't really something to worry about. But you do have to be careful. It's what's best for him and his body right now.”
