On Saturday, the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Kings in Sacramento — a quick homecoming for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. Both played their first game for the Cavs on Wednesday night after coming over in a three-way deal that also saw De’Andre Hunter go to the Kings.
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The Cavaliers are the 11th team Schroder has suited up for, and as someone who’s changed teams so often, he wasn’t shy putting up 14 shots in 19 minutes off the bench in his first game. Schroder only made five of those field goal attempts.
However, Schroder covered for his inefficient shooting by contributing in other ways. He dished out six assists and recorded three steals. He was also not shy after the game in taking shots at his previous team, setting up a potentially awkward date on Saturday.
“Holding them under 50 points in a half, we didn’t have that in Sac for a long time,” said Schroder. “A really competitive group here that wants to play defense, share the ball, and play fast. I love it. I feel comfortable already.”
It’s maybe not the best look to be trashing your old team so soon after leaving. But honestly, where’s the lie?
The Kings are once again one of the doormats of the league, because they’ve been terrible on both ends of the floor. Offensively, only the injury-riddled Pacers are worse, while on the defensive end, the Kings only rank better than the Wizards and Jazz.
Even that is sure to change, as both of those teams made the oddly aggressive moves of trading for Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr., respectively. That alone should catapult them over Sacramento.
The Cavs, meanwhile, rank 12th in the league in defensive rating and eighth in offensive rating. And they’ve been climbing in both categories as they’ve now won nine of their past 11.
In four of those games, the Cavs held their opponents to under 100 points, something that’s increasingly becoming a rarity these days. The Kings, by contrast, have accomplished that only twice this year, and they lost one of those games anyway.
Schroder hasn’t tasted much playoff success in a while. Being freed from Sacramento has to make him feel like he’s on the ’90s Bulls. The Cavs were one of the favorites in the East to start the year, but have spent most of the season falling under expectations. Their good play lately, though, has them back in the mix to make a deep run.
Schroder has made two conference finals in his career, once with the Lakers in 2023 and once with the Hawks back in 2015. Both of those seasons ended after his team got swept one step before the NBA Finals.
Who knows how things will pan out with the Cavs? But no matter what, it’s better than being stuck on a Kings team going nowhere fast.
