Boston Celtics: B/R views Dennis Schroder as “this summer’s best signing”

Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics kicked off the summer of 2021 with a splash when they shipped off Kemba Walker and his egregious contract to the OKC Thunder in exchange for a return package centered around Al Horford and, as time has gone on, things have seemingly managed to get even better for the franchise.

To follow up this transaction, a little over a month later the front office signed Ime Udoka to serve as their next head coach, and then, a few days after, they struck again in the trade department with the deal that netted them Josh Richardson to serve as a much-needed depth piece at the wing position.

However, most recently Boston managed to make their best move of the offseason in the signing of veteran point guard, Dennis Schroder, for a low-risk one-year deal.

After hearing the news of the agreement between the Boston Celtics and Schroder, we at HH went directly to the keyboard and shared our thoughts on the move, deeming it the biggest steal of this year’s free agency period.

Recently, it has come to our attention that it’s not just hometown bias that has us believing this, as Bleacher Report has also gone about and praised the signing, with them even going as far as to rank it as the No. 1 free agency acquisition in the entire association.

Citing his previous reputation as being worth somewhere in the $20 million range just earlier this past season, writer Zach Buckley believes snagging him at a mere $5.9 million pay-day could prove to be viewed as absolute robbery:

"People can debate whether Schroder is worth a $20 million salary, but it wouldn’t have been shocking to see someone give him that kind of coin. He’s one of only 16 players to tally 6,000 points and 1,500 assists since the start of 2016-17, despite starting just 63 percent of his games over that five-season stretch. He’s a potent offensive weapon, especially when his threes drop. They didn’t fall enough last season but did plenty the previous year (125 triples at a 38.5 percent clip).In other words, his talents are worth more than $6 million—a lot more. This market might have disagreed, but most wouldn’t. He could be the third-best player on the Celtics, a club that will expect to make the playoffs and could make some noise upon arrival. Their chances of doing so improved dramatically as soon as the ink dried on this summer’s best signing."

Despite the perception that he had a down season in 2020-21 — which, based on expectations and the type of season he had the year prior, he did –, Schroder still went on to post per-game averages of 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per on 44 percent shooting from the floor and nearly 34 percent shooting from deep.

Just two years removed from averaging 18.9 points on 47 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from deep while also finishing second in the running for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, high upside is certainly attached to the German-born baller and, in a hopefully resurgent season, he could prove to flourish with the Boston Celtics.