NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 things we learned from Wizards beating Hawks
By John Buhler
2. Atlanta made the right call in picking Dennis Schroder over Jeff Teague
Piggybacking off the three-team deal with Indiana and Utah, Atlanta was only willing to make that blockbuster trade with the Pacers and Jazz if they believed that Dennis Schroder was ready to be a starting point guard in this league.
He was a sixth man level player the two previous years before being thrust into a starting role in 2016-17. While he would show flashes of brilliance on the hardwood during the regular season, Schroder would occasionally find himself benched by head coach Mike Budenholzer after making a series of dumb plays.
Getting Prince in the three-team deal at least made the deal with the Jazz and Pacers a push for their future, but Schroder’s play would ultimately be the deciding factor if Atlanta really won the trade. Having to go against the most athletic point guard in the Eastern Conference in Wall in this series, Schroder didn’t back down. He improved substantially and should be very proud of how hard he played against Washington.
Keeping pace was something Jeff Teague never was able to do. Wall’s speed in transition was too much for Teague to contain defensively. Rarely would you see Teague go for 20 in a game with Washington. Schroder routinely went for over 20 in this series with the Wizards. It will be interesting to see how Schroder grows from this series into next year.