Orlando Magic pursue Dennis Schroder, seeking offensive spark and leveraging strong German national team chemistry to bolster their bench.
Dennis Schröder's time with his 10th NBA franchise might soon be coming to a close, as the Sacramento Kings are preparing to conduct a massive fire sale prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
The Western Conference's No. 14 seed(12-33), Sacramento's front office will be looking to offload any valuable pieces that could net the franchise draft capital and/or a few promising young prospects.
Along with All-Star caliber named like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis, Schröder will be a player to monitor as the deadline inches closer. The 32-year-old veteran point guard might be on the way to joining NBA team No. 11 in the midst of his 13th season, and new reports have indicated that the Orlando Magic are very much involved in the Schröder sweepstakes.
"The Magic recently checked in with the Kings on Dennis Schröder," Forbes' Evan Sidery shared via X on Friday morning.
"Orlando is trying to upgrade their backup point guard spot in place of Tyus Jones," Sidery continued.
"Schröder holds strong on-court chemistry with Franz Wagner as stars on the Germany national team."
Other than the obvious ties to fellow German national team member and 22.2-point scoring forward Franz Wagner, Orlando appears to make sense as a Schröder destination due in large part to their sizable hole in the backcourt.
Orlando has struggled with point guard depth this season, and Schröder's 12.5 points and 5.5 assist figures could provide the Magic's bench unit with an added offensive spark.
The Magic have gained a well-deserved reputation as a defensive-minded group with game-changing talents on that end in the backcourt, including 2024 All-Defensive Second Team guard Jalen Suggs. With the goal of bringing in more of an offensive-minded backup guard to settle things down on that end of the floor, Schröder could be a desirable option to fill that void.
As an added bonus, Schröder's previously mentioned ties to the fringe All-Star wing Wagner could prove to be a very unique advantage for the Magic, as no one knows the degree at which Schröder's game can rise to unprecedented levels better than Wagner.
That's not all, though, as these German national team ties also apply to Franz's brother Moe Wagner and Orlando's former No. 18 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Tristan da Silva.
All of these players witnessed Schröder's dominance during Germany's eventual championship victory in EuroBasket this past year, as the 6-foot-1 combo guard led the team by averaging 20.3 points and 7.2 assists on 46.2% shooting from the floor.
It's no secret that when Schröder dons a German national team jersey, he transforms into one of the best international players the game has ever seen. If he's surrounded by fellow members of that unit with the Magic, there's a chance that he could propel that team to a top spot in the Eastern Conference.
With that being said, the prospect of Orlando bringing this group together should cost them a pretty penny, leaving the Kings in a great spot to possibly nab a first-round draft choice in any deal for the journeyman guard.
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