OKC Thunder: Dennis Schröder vs. Carmelo Anthony – who’ll be more impactful?

Playmaker and production off bench key assets offered:

Schröder is exactly what the Thunder needed. Dennis has some interesting qualities that we haven’t seen from a backup PG for a while in Oklahoma City and he seems to be the perfect player to boost the Thunder second unit.

For years the OKC Thunder backup point guards (except for Felton) couldn’t create offense for themselves and for others. The bench struggled to score with continuity, finishing 15th and 17th in offensive ratings in the last two years. Now they have a player that can do both for them.

Schröder is an isolation master, one of the best in the league when it comes to creating his own shot. Last year he finished 7th in the league in Isolation sCPOE (Created Points Over Expectation, a metric courtesy of Cranjis McBasketball), scoring 1.09 points per possession (PPP) in these situations (0.20 PPP more than expected).

Aside from scoring, Schröder is also able to create for others. He’s a terrific pick and roll (PnR) player. He’s able to find open shooters and to connect with the big men thanks to his good passing instincts and vision. He likes to play fast and will allow the Thunder to keep the same pace and offensive philosophy even with Russell Westbrook on the bench.

He has all of the qualities the Thunder look for in a backup point guard which is precisely why he can be impactful, because he can provide exactly what the Thunder want.