The Dennis Schroder takeover in Atlanta is complete.
Already crowned the Atlanta Hawks’ starting point guard following the Jeff Teague trade, the 23-year-old is now the proud owner of a four-year, $70 million extension that will kick in next season. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein and Zach Lowe first broke the news and expanded upon the agreement:
Dennis Schroder and the Atlanta Hawks have come to terms on a four-year contract extension. The deal is worth $70 million, ESPN.com has learned.
Sources say $62 million of Schroder’s new deal is guaranteed — at a flat annual rate of $15.5 million — with the remaining $8 million achievable through incentives.
Schroder also tweeted out the news, sans dollar amount:
GLAD TO BE HERE 4 MORE YEARS WITH THE @atlhawks !!!! LOVE THE FANS , PPL , COACHES , ORGANIZATION & MY TEAMMATES !!! ATLANTA IS HOME !!!! ?? pic.twitter.com/JfcoTipO8e
— Dennis Schröder (@DennisMike93) October 26, 2016
It was only a matter of time before Schroder and Atlanta renewed their commitment to another. The Hawks, for their part, didn’t have anywhere else to turn. They cut Jarrett Jack and traded Teague. Rookie Malcolm Delaney is their primary backup. They very obviously, very deliberately, tied their present and future to Schroder.
And now, as the Hawks move full throttle into regular-season mode, we wait to see if that was the right call.
Much of the statistical evidence suggests that it is. While Schroder can be out of control at times, the Hawks offense scored more points per 100 possessions last season when he was running the show than when Teague was the offensive pilot, according to NBA.com. Many of their minutes came together, but Schroder is the more explosive attacker and better defender, the latter of which left his net rating substantially higher than Teague’s.
Even if the Hawks’ offense isn’t great right off the bat, this still profiles as a good decision. A base salary of $15.5 million per year is perfectly reasonable for your starting point guard in today’s salary-cap climate. Atlanta likely saved some money by hammering this out before Schroder reached restricted free agency, and it most definitely built up some goodwill on the relationship front by turning the keys over to him at all.
