The Golden State Warriors suffered their seventh defeat in nine games on Wednesday night, going down to the Houston Rockets after a wild and controversial sequence in the closing moments.
Despite the rough end to the game, it's probably the first-half where the Warriors may believe they lost the game. They had just 26 points nearly 20 minutes into the game, with Steve Kerr turning all different directions to try and generate offense.
With the Warrior offense on life support and Stephen Curry on the bench, Kerr turned to Pat Spencer again for rotation minutes in the second-quarter. The two-way contracted guard is solid and even delivered a mid-range jump-shot in his opening seconds on the floor, but his presence in the rotation is a sure fire sign that Kerr still doesn't trust Brandin Podziemski as the team's backup point guard.
Acquiring Dennis Schroder would be a simple but effective move for the Warriors
As has been the case on countless occasions over the last decade, Golden State need to find a more effective way to manage the offense when Curry is off the floor. As talented as Podziemski might be, it was always going to be a tough task thrusting such a challenge on a second-year player who's 21-years-old.
While there's been a myriad of trade speculation floating around the Warriors in recent days -- most notably the possibility of acquiring Jimmy Butler -- there's an obvious and very simple move the franchise could make to eliminate their backup point guard deficiency.
Trading for Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder would not only give Golden State one of the best backup point guards in the league, but also someone who could viably play alongside Curry in the back court.
Hard to not view Dennis Schroder as the most easily attainable good fit for the Warriors.
— Sam Esfandiari (@samesfandiari) December 11, 2024
The Warriors were linked to Schroder in a report by ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday, alongside Nets teammates Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith. But unlike the latter duo or a blockbuster trade for Butler, making a move for Schroder could be far more straight forward.
The German is on an expiring $13 million contract, meaning Golden State could simply match salaries with De'Anthony Melton's $12.8 million deal. According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Brooklyn is likely to require a first-round pick for the 11-year veteran.
The Warriors could simply move Melton and a first-round pick to acquire Schroder, but is giving away that asset worth it for someone who may not start for you? Perhaps more importantly, is it worth it for someone who may be a short-term rental if you can't re-sign Schroder in free agency? That's the question facing Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office right now.
Schroder is having a big season as Brooklyn's starting point guard, with the 31-year-old currently averaging 18.6 points and 6.5 assists on 38.5% shooting from beyond the arc.