SAN FRANCISCO — Soon to be 6 years old, Dennis Schroder Jr. is old enough now to understand what it meant when his dad got a phone call this week informing him that he had been traded to the Golden State Warriors. In his young life it will be the seventh different jersey his dad has worn.
“We’re lucky, now it’s a good team, at least,” the eldest of Schroder’s three kids said, according to his father, who went through his first practice Tuesday since being acquired from the 10-16 Brooklyn Nets. Schroder gives the Warriors (14-11) the second option to Steph Curry they have lacked since De’Anthony Melton’s season-ending injury.
General manager Mike Dunleavy sent Melton, Reece Beekman and three second-round draft picks to Brooklyn in exchange for Schroder as soon as he was eligible to be traded. Coach Steve Kerr said he expected the 31-year-old guard to debut alongside Curry in the starting lineup Thursday in Memphis.
“They treated me like we’ve been here together since training camp,” Schroder said. “Everybody was really cool, chill. The chemistry I see is on a high level. It’s just a winning organization.”
At his first practice inside Chase Center, Schroder suited up opposite Curry on the second unit for their scrimmage.
“He will definitely play all of the non-Steph minutes, but I like the idea of them together, as well,” Kerr said of Schroder’s role. “I put him opposed (to Curry) because I wanted to get him with that second group. I thought that was more important than getting him with Steph in that first group, but there will be both, for sure.”
Since losing Melton, the Warriors have gone from 9-2 and near the top of the Western Conference to 14-11 and fighting to stay out of a play-in spot. They have lost eight of their past 10 games and fallen flat offensively in crunch time when their opponents swarm Curry, who’ll turn 37 in March and is dealing with multiple ailments.
But after one practice with Schroder, who’s averaging 18.4 points and a career-best 6.6 assists per game, optimism abounded.
“Come in, get acclimated. Figure out what we’re doing. He’s a very intelligent guy, so give him the basic concepts of a set. He already knows what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to play. I feel like it’s going to be good, exciting,” veteran Gary Payton II said. “We’ve got another ballhandler, someone to take a little pressure off of (Curry) and lets him roam around and do what he does. I know Dennis is going to be himself — aggressive, but also still a playmaker — so I’m excited to see.”
“We did some late-game situational stuff, and you just know he’s going to take care of the ball, get you into pick-and-roll spacing,” Kerr added. “It just feels like he’s going to get you a good shot, whether it’s him or his teammates.”
Schroder, who was born in Braunschweig, Germany, said he always admired San Francisco as a visiting player with the Hawks, Thunder, Lakers, Celtics, Rockets, Lakers (again), Raptors and Nets.
“When you’d walk out (of the hotel), it would kind of look like Europe, kind of like Berlin, with the train right on the street,” Schroder said. “There was one store with German candy in it, I remember. So I’ve loved San Francisco from the start.”
Schroder’s family had just gotten settled in Brooklyn when his agent called to tell him it was time to find another new home. In 12 NBA seasons, nearly a third of the league is represented on the back of his basketball card (eight teams, in total).
Asked if that raises any red flags, Kerr said, “Sure, it can,” before adding, “I played on six, so I guess I had red flags.
“The way I always looked at it was those were six teams that wanted me. Dennis has had (eight) now that have wanted him.”
Schroder said he will wear No. 71, an inverse of the number he has always worn in honor of his late father, Axel, with No. 17 unavailable because the Warriors retired it to honor Chris Mullin.
While he said the racism he experienced growing up in Germany as the son of a German father and a Gambian mother was “tough,” the opportunity to carry the German flag during this summer’s Olympic opening ceremonies was “probably the biggest thing I’ve ever done, besides my family.”
The opportunity to play next to Curry might top it, though, at least to one family member.
“It’s funny, my son always asked me for his jersey and I’ve been trying for like three or four years,” Schroder said. “Like, ‘Steph, can I get your jersey?’ I didn’t say it was for my son. But it was like, ‘Oh damn, I gave it to (someone else)’ and I couldn’t get it.”
Schroder finally acquired the precious threads on the Warriors’ last trip to Brooklyn.
Just in time to add another jersey to his collection.
“Every time when you open the NBA app and see Golden State plays, you get excited just because of how (Curry) plays, he plays like a video game,” Schroder said. “Just having fun, laughing, making the right reads every single time. He’s one of the superstars I’ve got a lot of respect for because he don’t care if he scores 10, 20, 30 or 40, when he gets double-teamed he’s making the right play. I’m really excited. I can’t say it enough.”
— Moses Moody, who has missed the past two games with knee tendonitis, did not practice. Kerr said his status for Thursday is doubtful.
