Warriors immediately insert Schröder into starting lineup

Dennis Schröder will be starting alongside Steph Curry in Wednesday night’s game against the Grizzlies.

In his first game with the Golden State Warriors, guard Dennis Schröder will be in the starting lineup, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters prior to Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Schröder, who was acquired in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend, has primarily been starting with Brooklyn, but has been a sixth man at other points in his career. With the Warriors struggling, though, Kerr opted to immediately give him a chance to gel with the team’s other starters.

Schröder is shooting 38.7% from three-point range, averaging 2.5 triples per game, so far this season. That efficient shooting (he also is shooting nearly 89% from the free-throw line) came alongside some impressive volume. In 23 games with the Nets, all starts, he averaged 18.4 points, 6.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 33.6 minutes per game.

Schröder’s acquisition was largely driven by Brandin Podziemski’s struggle to build on his impressive rookie season so far this year. Podz was expected to the starting shooting guard and primary backup ball handler behind Curry following the departure of Chris Paul. However, Podziemski has found himself in a concerning shooting slump that has seemingly impacted other parts of his game.

There was still a scenario where the Warriors started shooting guard Buddy Hield, allowing Schröder to return to a sixth man role, but Hield’s own offensive inconsistency and defensive struggles likely were enough for the coaching staff to give their newest acquisition an opportunity to seize a larger role.