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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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The Golden State Warriors appear to be on track to make a major move on Sunday the first date players signed over the summer can become trade-eligible.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Warriors and Brooklyn Nets are deep in talks to complete a trade that will reroute Nets starting point guard Dennis Schröder to the Chase Center.
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Sources inform longtime NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, currently writing for Substack, that Golden State intends to flip the expiring, $12.8 million one-year mid-level deal of Warriors shooting guard De'Anthony Melton as part of the deal. Melton underwent a season-ending ACL surgery last month.
Read more: Warriors Guard to Have ACL Surgery, Out for Season
Melton inked an agreement with the Warriors last summer following a run with the Philadelphia 76ers and indeed becomes trade-eligible on Sunday.
Fischer reports that the Warriors are expected to include two-way player Reece Beekman in the offing. At one point, conversations also included Brooklyn's best player, combo forward Cam Johnson, in the deal as well, but now the deal is mostly focused around Schröder, per Fischer.
Charania adds that the Nets are set to ship out Schröder and a second-round draft selection to the Warriors in exchange for Melton's contract and three second-rounders.
The German-born Schröder, 31, has led the Nets to a surprisingly competent 10-15 record thus far this year and the No. 10 overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn is understandably hoping to bottom out ahead of what is expected to be a loaded 2025 NBA Draft.
Under new head coach Jordi Fernandez, Brooklyn has looked shockingly decent, albeit in the league's JV conference. The 6-foot-1 Schröder is averaging a sum close to his career-best mark of 19.4 points a game, achieved while he was still with the Atlanta Hawks in 2017-18. This year, he's logging 18.4 points on .452/.387/.889 shooting splits (that 38.7 percent mark, on a career-high 6.5 triple tries a night, is also a career best), a best-ever 6.6 dimes, along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals in his 23 contests for the club, all starts.
On the 14-10 Warriors, it's unclear if Schröder would even start next to 10-time All-Star guard Stephen Curry. Melton had been the Warriors' starting two-guard next to the 36-year-old former two-time league MVP, but since his injury, 6-foot-2, defense-first combo guard Gary Paton II has been starting alongside Curry.
Schröder is also a lethal point-of-attack defender. With his well-rounded scoring and passing game, plus a sizable $13 million expiring contract, it seems at least possible that he'll earn a starting opportunity.
Schröder has enjoyed a major career resurgence since bottoming out as a little-used reserve on the tanking 2021-22 Houston Rockets. He emerged as the Los Angeles Lakers' most critical point guard in 2022-23, on a roster that also included a prime D'Angelo Russell, plus an aging Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, and Kendrick Nunn at various points. Fresh off helping L.A. reach the Western Conference Finals that spring, Schröder inked a lucrative two-season, $25.4 million free agent deal with the Toronto Raptors the following offseason. He was flipped to Brooklyn midway through 2023-24.
Should this come to pass (which, to hear Charania, Stei,n and Fischer tell it, appears imminent), it represents a fascinating move for the Warriors. Though Schröder may not be the kind of All-Star, marquee name that has often been connected with Golden State this year, he's a huge upgrade over someone who's done for the year.
Given that Curry will turn 37 in March, and has a ton of playoff mileage under his belt (including six NBA Finals berths and four titles), it makes sense that Warriors team president Mike Dunleavy should look to maximize his window with the two-time league MVP still at least near his prime. Schröder will upgrade the club's backcourt rotation right now.
But Golden State will still have plenty of assets left over, and could still land a bigger fish in the months leading up to the NBA's Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Read more: Warriors 'Monitoring' Jimmy Butler Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline
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