Dennis Schröder says he wants to be with Raptors long-term
Dennis Schröder might have been relegated to bench duties for the Toronto Raptors, but that doesn’t appear to have shifted his desire to stick around with the franchise.
Signing with the organization this past summer on a two-year deal worth $26 million, the 30-year-old point guard has had an up-and-down first season with the team.
He’s averaged 14.6 points, seven assists and 2.9 rebounds in 34 games, while playing 32 minutes a night and shooting 35.7% from three-point range. But named in the starting lineup for the first 29 games of the season, Schröder has come off the bench in four of the last five games for the team as head coach Darko Rajakovic experiments with new lineups.
The lone game Schröder started for the team over the last five games was the most infamous loss the Raptors are bound to suffer all season, as it snapped a historic 28-game losing streak for the Detroit Pistons, just hours after Toronto had completed a trade to bring RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto.
Following the game, Schröder raised some eyebrows with his comments comparing Toronto to the 2023 FIBA World Cup-winning German side that he earned MVP honours with.
“I went to war with all my brothers from the [German] national team,” Schröder said. “But we knew we had each other. I don’t feel it here yet like that. Every single day I just want to keep going at it and build relationships. I know it’s hard, because [the] NBA is a little bit individual as well. But at the end of the day, if we keep playing like this, nobody’s going to win.”
Asked about those comments Thursday on Sportsnet’s The Raptors Show, Schröder told co-hosts Blake Murphy and William Lou about his desire to build a long-term culture shift in Toronto.
“We want to create and have a winning mentality. This organization won [the NBA championship in] 2019, and they know what it takes to win. At the end of the day, I just want to be here long-term as well, and create winning habits and be in a winning organization. At the end of the day, that’s all I worry about — win.”
"I just want to be here long-term…create winning habits, being in a winning organization…all I worry about is to win."@DS17_FG talks about his post-game comments after the Pistons loss with @william_lou & @BlakeMurphyODC on @TheRaptorsShow.
📺 https://t.co/SqK7M993Jz pic.twitter.com/xPfiM7IalZ
— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) January 4, 2024
The Raptors are back in action tonight when they face the Sacramento Kings at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET.
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