CLEVELAND, Ohio — Reinforcements are on the way for the Cavs. Literally.
Late Monday night, hours before boarding a flight to Los Angeles, Dennis Schröder released a video on his Instagram page detailing his thoughts ahead of joining his new team.
Traded less than 24 hours earlier in a three-team deal that sent him from Sacramento to Cleveland, Schröder was in transit again, ahead of his potential debut in wine and gold on Wednesday against the Clippers.
Schröder was lying on his hotel bed in Washington, D.C. when his phone rang. On the other end was Kings assistant general manager B.J. Armstrong, informing him that he was being moved.
At 32, Schröder is now on his 11th team in a 13-year NBA career. But this stop carries something familiar. A relationship long dormant is being reignited, one that traces back to the early stages of his NBA journey.
Schröder was selected 17th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2013 NBA Draft. A year later, Kenny Atkinson became an assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer and was tasked in part with helping a young German guard learn how to survive and compete in a different environment than overseas.
“I’m really, really excited to play for Kenny,” Schröder said in his video. “I mean, I’ve been with him — 2013 started our relationship in Atlanta. He was the assistant coach back then. I was fresh in the league. We started building a relationship together.
“To play for him now, seeing all the great things he did the last couple of years in Brooklyn and in Cleveland, it’s big time. So I’m really excited to join the club.”
The ties between Schröder and Atkinson run deeper than their overlap in the league.
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Long before Atkinson was guiding playoff teams from the sideline, he was carving out his own professional career overseas, playing in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands from 1993 to 2004. One of his stops came with Braunschweig Löwen, which is Schröder’s hometown club in Germany.
Schröder now owns that team outright.
That connection has helped foster a mutual respect that is reciprocated and exceeds just the two of them.
Players trying to catch a break at the professional level have reached out to Schröder for opportunities with Braunschweig, but also to acknowledge the work he has done elevating German basketball on the global stage. Schröder was the driving force behind Germany’s gold medal run at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup and again at the 2025 EuroBasket tournament, earning MVP honors in both competitions.
“There’s some guys, you only describe them with the word competitive,” Atkinson said. “He’s in that elite competitive bucket, always has been since he was playing in Germany. And I’ll say this, he’s a champion. European champion, world champion. There’s great respect in the world basketball community to what he’s done. And [I’m] looking forward to him integrating with the group.”
That consistent competitiveness is something Cleveland has been searching for.
The Cavs have flashed hunger in spurts this season. Jaylon Tyson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin have provided moments of energy, physicality and edge. But those bursts are different from a veteran who has lived through postseason failures, adjustments and championship-level pressure, with 74 career playoff games and the scars that come with them.
“My role is same wherever I go, just bringing the toughness, giving everything I have, every possession, picking up full court, making the right basketball play, and, yeah, bringing kind of the dog mentality to the team,” Schröder said. “I think I can be great in that role, making sure I’m a great vet for all the younger guards. I’ve been doing this a couple of years now. I’m really excited to join the club.”
Beyond his dribble-drive creation, his ability to generate offense late in the clock and his willingness to defend, Schröder arrives with something Cleveland has lacked at times and sorely needed. A different leadership voice. An experienced player unafraid to disrupt comfort, to ruffle feathers, to say what needs to be said when the moment demands it.
Neither Thomas Bryant nor Larry Nance Jr. fully occupied that lane. Schröder has built a reputation for holding teams to a standard, even if it means challenging teammates who aren’t ready to meet him there. The Cavs believe they are.
“Fans can expect from me that I give 110% every single game, that I’m always putting the team first, making sure that whenever something has to be said, that I will say it,” Schröder said. “I’m never afraid of the moment. Always embracing the moment, even if you fail or if you win. And, yeah, just that dog mentality. Every single night.”
With his history alongside Atkinson, Schröder also has the potential to become connective tissue between the coaching staff and the bench. Someone who can echo the message in the locker room or challenge it when necessary.
How his game fits next to Donovan Mitchell and the rest of Cleveland’s roster remains to be seen. But his passing acumen, motor and ability to score in isolation all address existing needs.
Schröder also signed a three-year deal with Sacramento this summer, giving the Cavs cost certainty beyond this season barring another move.
The hope inside the organization is that this trade checks multiple boxes — urgency, toughness, experience — and helps push Cleveland past the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“After careful evaluation and a clearer view of the Eastern Conference landscape, we believe adding Dennis and Keon [Ellis] strengthens our depth, expands our flexibility, and positions us to keep building a Championship caliber team now and into the future,” Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said. “In a season defined by its parity, this move better aligns us for a deeper postseason run.”