NBA Trade Grades: Nets and Raptors tread water, swapping veteran point guards

The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the more jarring teams leading up to the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline, and their latest move leaves us with more questions than answers.

Brooklyn Nets trade Spencer Dinwiddie to Toronto Raptors for Dennis Schroder 

The Nets are swapping veteran point guards with the Toronto Raptors – trading Spencer Dinwiddie for Dennis Schroder, per ESPN’s Senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

According to Wojnarowski, 16-year seasoned forward Thaddeus Young will be heading to Brooklyn as part of the deal.

What do the Nets gain from this? Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer has reported that Dinwiddie did not request a trade, so do they view Schroder as a reasonable upgrade to the point guard position?

Dinwiddie is in the final season of a three-year, $54 million contract he signed in 2021, meaning the Raptors got an expiring $18 million salary to shed off their payroll while the Nets added took on a $13 million cap hit for 2024-25. It was later reported that the Raptors planned to waive Dinwiddie to avoid a contract bonus:

The Nets got some cap relief from Young’s expiring $8 million base salary. Was losing out on the financial flexibility offered by Dinwiddie’s contract worth trading for Schroder?

Moreover, are the Nets buyers or sellers? 

Sitting at 20-30 and 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, the Nets have several desirable players who have found themselves in the thick of trade rumors ahead of the deadline, but instead of selling off parts, they take on a rotational piece in Schroder?

Not to mention, Dinwiddie has struggled mightily throughout the 2023-24 campaign, with questions about his effort surfacing last month. In 48 games, the veteran combo guard is averaging 12.6 points while shooting 39.1 percent from the floor, adding six assists and 3.3 rebounds per contest.

Schroder, whose role has fluctuated since the arrival of Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett via the trade that sent OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks, is averaging 13.7 points while shooting 44.2 percent from the field, in addition to 6.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.

From Brooklyn’s perspective, it is tough to see why they made this trade. The only relatively plausible reason for this deal is if they were serious about buying out Dinwiddie, which was a reported possibility if they could not find a suitor for him.

The Raptors take on what could be a half-season rental in the form of Dinwiddie to open up cap space this offseason.

Brooklyn Nets trade grade: D | Toronto Raptors trade grade: B+