The Sacramento Kings are signing Dennis Schroder to a three-year, $45 million deal, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
The 12-year veteran started last season with the Brooklyn Nets. Twenty-four games after getting traded to the Golden State Warriors, he got rerouted to the Detroit Pistons.
In 28 tilts with the team from the Motor City, Schroder averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 points in 25.2 minutes of floor time. When you combine his output for the three franchises he suited up for, he produced 13.1 points, dished out 5.4 assists, and swiped nearly 1.0 steals per contest.
The 31-year-old guard joined the Boston Celtics for the 2021-22 campaign. What started as a pairing that had fans hoping there was a path to an extension soured. Despite his speed and ability to get to the cup, Schroder's tendency to walk the ball up didn't mesh with how Boston wanted to play.
At the trade deadline, the Celtics agreed to a deal that sent him to the Houston Rockets. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in 49 games with Boston.
Jettisoning Schroder coincided with the Celtics' acquisition of Derrick White. The latter helped them reach the NBA Finals that year. He then evolved into an elite role player, instrumental in their 2023-24 title run.
Schroder joining the Kings could impact the Celtics
The German native is about to play for his tenth NBA franchise. The one he's taking his talents to is as dysfunctional as they come.
The Kings' head coaching job has been a revolving door. Last season, it sent 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown out. They fired general manager Monte McNair immediately after they lost in the play-in tournament.
The latter decision came months after trading franchise star De'Aaron Fox. Despite sending him to the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento did not acquire any of their promising young players to help usher in a rebuild.
Instead, the best part of what the Kings received was a lottery-protected first-round pick from the Chicago Bulls this year that did not convey. They also got two additional future opening round selections. Perhaps the return would have been better had they not opted to acquire Zach LaVine in this three-team deal.
As evidenced by McNair's departure, reuniting LaVine with DeMar DeRozan to run Chicago's unsuccessful experiment in the more challenging conference did not work. That's not to say ownership might not have played a significant role in that trade and what Sacramento received.
Either way, the Kings' play-in tournament exit on their home floor resoundingly reinforced that it was a mistake. They lost 120-106 to the Dallas Mavericks. The final score, though decisive, does not fully capture how uncompetitive the game was.
Now, Schroder will at least play a significant part in filling their search for a floor general. That figures to remove Sacramento from the list of potential suitors for Anfernee Simons.
Sending Simons to the Kings likely required a three-team construct to limit how much salary Boston absorbed. However, they were a candidate with a need that the veteran scoring guard could have satisfied.
Instead, as the Celtics work to continue shedding salary, it appears they will have to look elsewhere if they're to find a new home for Simons.