Dennis Schröder came to Toronto as a world champion and finally wanted to lead his own NBA team. But at the moment he only comes off the bench. Schröder remains calm – and is a realist.
The world champion captain himself doesn’t know where Dennis Schröder will be playing basketball in a month. Since the Toronto Raptors changed their squad at the turn of the year, the 30-year-old from Braunschweig has lost his regular place in the NBA team’s starting lineup. An attempt by coach Darko Rajaković has become normal. The consequence: transfer rumors and debates about Schröder’s salary.
The transfer window for this season closes on February 8th. It remains to be seen whether Schröder will play with the Raptors in Toronto against the Houston Rockets the next day or whether he will have left Canada again after six months.
“This is a luxury problem”
The best player in the Basketball World Cup doesn’t seem stressed because of this, on the contrary. Schröder is playing his eleventh season in the NBA and he knows the business. Trades between teams with the professionals as chess pieces are an occupational risk. His salary, totaling just over $25 million on his two-year contract, is not in jeopardy.
“I know that this is a business here in the NBA, my salary doesn’t change, I may be in another city, but I can bring my family with me, they pay for all the travel – that’s a luxury problem,” he told the German Press Agency after the Raptors’ 120:126 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Coach Rajaković and Schröder value each other. With number 17 as the leader of the second guard, things are going better for the Raptors, who are having a mixed season and have to worry about a place in the playoffs. With the transfer, the plan for Schröder to be the team’s most important playmaker has been abandoned – even if he still mostly gets the trust in the final minutes when it counts.
Schröder impresses with his performance
Schröder played against the Clippers from the start. However, he only came off the bench, as is usually the case, because of the injury to a teammate the day before against the Los Angeles Lakers. He had ten points and six assists against his former team, and on Wednesday evening he had a strong 22 points. His performances are right, all season long.
“Basketball is a team sport and whatever the team needs, I try to provide that,” emphasized Schröder. “Not many people can do that, I know that, but I’m one of very few in the world who can do it like that and I think that’s why I’ve been here for a long time now and will of course continue to do it.”
World champion trusts in his abilities
What he means: In a league full of egoists and outstanding athletes with enormous self-confidence, he, who has been accused of egotism in his career, especially in the early years with the national team, claims to put the team’s success above his own ego .
And because of this attitude, he doesn’t worry about his future in the NBA. “I believe that they want to build something here and that they see what I bring to a team. And if you bring something like that to a team, you don’t have to worry,” said Schröder.
Tough months lie ahead for Toronto
The latest additions, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, have been in Toronto for less than two weeks, and a lot of the little things aren’t quite right yet. That doesn’t affect Schröder’s optimism. “The next few months will of course be tough, but we are currently working on laying a foundation, finding the players who will stay here longer so that we have that team chemistry as a team and then of course we attack,” he said.
Schröder feels part of it. Even though he knows that that can change overnight.
(By Maximilian Haupt, dpa)
2024-01-11 09:02:04
#Salary #Toronto #farewell
