The thing about playing for seven teams in five years is that you’ve seen it all. That’s exactly why Trajan Langdon and JBB Bickerstaff wanted Dennis Schroder to become a member of the Detroit Pistons.
The well-traveled point guard has started for years, come off the bench, captained young teams, and deferred to superstars. He’s been a member of 13 playoff series, and he’s hit big shots in his career. He also has the ability to impact both ends of the floor. He checked every box.
“And he was a guy that we targeted and wanted to be here as a part of this group because of his skill set,” Bickerstaff said before the Pistons played the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. “His competitive nature, his ability to play two ends of the floor. But you know he’s got a killer instinct in him also. He’s not afraid of the moment. He’s not afraid to take big shots.”
The Pistons have struggled in the absence of Jaden Ivey, who was playing the best season of his career alongside Cade Cunningham, but also played critical minutes running the offense when Cade went to the bench.
Since Ivey’s injury on Jan. 1, the Pistons have been outscored by 7.9 points per 100 possessions when Cunningham is off the floor, compared to outscoring opponents by 5.5 points when he is on. That 13.4-point differential is a huge leap from prior to Jan. 1, when the Pistons were only being outscored by 0.1 points when Cade rested.
The Pistons simply couldn’t rely on Marcus Sasser to run the offense, and the team didn’t really have any other ball-handlers they could turn to. That all changes with Schroder joining the team.
Bickerstaff and Langdon believe the list of needs Schroder will address for the Pistons is extensive.
“Being able to manage change, play big games, play with other elite-level guards. … take some pressure off of guys, make people’s jobs easier,” Bickerstaff said.
That bit about playing with other guards was perhaps a hint at Bickerstaff’s comfort level in Schroder and Cunningham together to close games. Among the many ways Cuningham has improved this season is as a defender. Still, in crunch time, it was too easy for a ball handler to switch off either Cunningham or Ausar Thompson and find themself going one-on-one against Malik Beasley or Tim Hardaway Jr. Those veterans are great shooters, but great defenders they are not.
Schroder is only at 34% from deep for his career but hit 39% in his 1.5 seasons as a member of the Nets. Detroit is hoping he can recapture some of that magic. He’s also someone who can defend at a much higher level than either of Detroit’s more reliable 3-point shooting threats.
He pointed to Schroder’s success in OKC in both his ability to play alongside the Thunder’s star players, Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and to be on the floor with them to close games.
Dennis’ ability to handle the ball, play the pick and roll, get to the paint, create for himself, create for others. Both of those guys (Lindy Waters and Schroder) are willing to defend as well. So they’re guys who are here who will boost us.”
That’s a lot of praise and maybe a lot of pressure to put on Schroder, but it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. He’s been there, and now he has a chance to take a young Pistons team there too.