Warriors Seem Unlikely To Stand Pat After Dennis Schroder Deal

December 22, 2024

Golden State and Brooklyn may have struck quickly on the Dennis Schroder and De’Anthony Melton trade, but the NBA fine print is key when it comes to leveraging their new acquisitions in further deals.

As Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported, completing these trades by Dec. 16 allows both Schroder and Melton to be aggregated with other salaries in trade offers before the February 6 deadline.

However, the reality is that both players can’t be included in such deals until Feb. 5 — just one day before the NBA trade deadline.

For the Warriors, this is particularly intriguing. Could they use Schroder’s contract to land a big fish like Miami’s Jimmy Butler, or some other star-level player?

“I think we are always aggressive,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told reporters earlier this week. “You’ve got to be mindful of what you’re giving up, what you’re giving back, all those things. But anything to do to make the team better…we’re going to do.

“We are in a time zone here of maximizing our window with (Steph Curry) and (Draymond Green) and (Steve Kerr) as our coach — as proven on the first day where we can basically make trades with certain players. We did that and we’ll continue to look at things.”

Despite their aggressive stance, the Warriors can’t immediately jump into the market with Schroder.

So while Golden State remains fixated on making a big splash — having already tried to land Paul George and Lauri Markkanen over the summer — they’ll have to wait just a little longer to use Schroder’s contract in a blockbuster trade. The Nets are in the same boat with Melton.

Of course, Schröder and Melton are available to be traded individually at any point. But it’s when their salaries are combined with others that the real flexibility kicks in.

So, when Feb. 5 rolls around, expect the trade chatter around both teams to pick up steam.

The window is narrow, but you can bet Golden State will be ready to pounce as they continue to chase another star to maximize their championship window.