Dennis Schroder won’t suit up for the Sacramento Kings until preseason play begins in early October, but he’s getting some summer run with the German national team.
Schroder put up 24 points and 10 assists in Madrid on Thursday, leading Germany to a 106-105 overtime victory over Spain in a tune-up for FIBA EuroBasket 2025, which is set to begin on Wednesday. Schroder blew by Spain’s Juancho Hernangomez to bank in the game-winning shot on a driving layup with 8.6 seconds remaining.
Germany will be among the favorites in the EuroBasket tournament along with Serbia, France and Greece. Schroder was named MVP after leading Germany to the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Kings are hoping Schroder can bring that kind of leadership to Sacramento after acquiring him in a sign-and-trade deal with the Detroit Pistons in July. Schroder is a 31-year-old point guard who will step into the starting lineup in Sacramento after the Kings traded De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in February.
Schroder has averaged 13.9 points and 4.9 assists over 12 NBA seasons. He will be playing for his 10th team following previous stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors and Pistons.
Schroder played for the Nets, Warriors and Pistons last season. He appeared in a total of 75 games, averaging 13.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists while shooting 40.6% from the field and 34.2% from 3-point range.
Schroder will join a Sacramento lineup that already features Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis with Malik Monk and Keon Ellis expected to play key roles off the bench. There could be additional roster changes over the course of the season as the Kings retool under new general manager Scott Perry and first-year coach Doug Christie.
The Kings lost in the play-in tournament for the second year in a row last season. They failed to reach the playoffs for the 18th time in 19 seasons after winning 48 games to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in 2022-23.