After completing a trade with the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the Brooklyn Nets found themselves in action for the first time without Dennis Schroder against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
Schroder had appeared in 23 of Brooklyn's first 25 games this season, before being moved to the Warriors, alongside a second-round pick, for De'Anthony Melton, Reece Beekman and three second-round picks.
The Nets reaped some early benefits from trading Dennis Schroder to the Warriors
The Nets were absolutely beaten up by the Cavaliers on their home floor, falling 130-101 in a game where they were also missing Cam Thomas. Brooklyn trailed 37-17 after the opening period and 72-40 at half-time, before providing a little more competitiveness in the second-half.
Despite entering with the 13th best offense in the league, the Nets were always going to struggle without Schroder, Thomas and coming up against a top 10 ranked defense. That they did, shooting 42% from the floor and committing 20 turnovers in the 29-point defeat.
It may have been a brutal loss, but it was also beautiful because this is exactly the direction Brooklyn wants to head. While they may have come in for some criticism for giving away Schroder to the Warriors so cheaply, the Nets were clearly incentivized to make a trade as soon as possible in order to accelerate their tanking ambition.
They are finally doing this tanking thing correctly pic.twitter.com/QAHNr7zHxy
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) December 17, 2024
You won't find many Brooklyn fans too disappointed with Monday's result, with most seeing the long-term plan after trading Mikal Bridges in the offseason and re-acquiring access to their own future draft picks.
Speaking after the trade was completed, Nets general manager Sean Marks was very straight-forward in the reason behind the decision to move Schroder to Golden State.
“The ultimate goal is long term sustainable success. So we're weighing a lot of factors in here," Marks said."It's never easy to see one of your own leave; but at the same time looking at the big picture here this is what's best for our organization long term.”
With Brooklyn already reaping the benefits of the trade just one game in, attention now turns to how much impact Schroder will have on the Warriors and their aspirations to reach the playoffs and make a sustained postseason run.
The 31-year-old is expected to make his debut on Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies, with Golden State desperately needing a rejuvenation amid a 2-8 record over the last 10 games.