Kenny Atkinson, we have a mission for you: bench Dennis Schroder!
The Cleveland Cavaliers have played the first three games of their first-round series with the Toronto Raptors without a sense of urgency. That's not a bad thing; shrinking the playoff rotation too fast could leave the core players exhausted later in the postseason. If head coach Kenny Atkinson can keep the minutes of his stars low, they may have more juice in the second and third rounds.
There is a point where you can take that patience too far, however, and that point is playing Dennis Schroder. There were legitimate reasons to play him in the first three games: he is under contract long-term, he is ostensibly the backup point guard, and he has a track record of showing up in big games, primarily for the German National Team.
Dennis Schroder has been terrible
What he hasn't done for Cleveland is show up for any games, however, putting together mediocre performances throughout the regular season and following it up by being terrible in the playoffs. And it has to stop. Atkinson has to cut Schroder completely out of the rotation.
In the regular season, the Cavaliers were about the same whether Scroder played or was on the bench. In the playoffs, however, the difference has been as stark as it gets.
In 28 competitive minutes (that means non-garbage time, when the game is still in doubt), Dennis Schroder has tanked the offense, shooting only 27.3 percent from the field and 1-for-6 from deep. He has only six assists and four turnovers. The Cavaliers' offense has been a whopping 30.6 points per 100 worse with Schroder on the court in the playoffs (stats via databallr).
The Cavaliers have other options
The time has come to pull the plug. Atkinson has some options moving forward. He could more completely stagger James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, allowing each to operate as the point guard in their minutes. With the emergence of Jaylon Tyson and the health of Max Strus and Dean Wade, the Cavaliers have a treasure trove of wings. They can play "bigger" and not have another point guard in the rotation.
The other option is to turn to Craig Porter Jr. The Cavaliers were +1.6 points better during the regular season when Porter Jr. played than when he didn't, a really solid number considering he was often playing without the team's other backcourt stars.
Playing Porter wouldn't mean some life-altering lineup, but it's hard to imagine he would be worse than Schroder, and he has chemistry built up with the Cavaliers' bigs. Atkinson should give him a shot and see if his hustle and playmaking can fit better than Schroder's apathy.
Will Atkinson make the move? He needs to, but the long game is alluring, especially when your team has the series lead. Moving away from Schroder now, however, could help end the series sooner and give the team rest ahead of a second-round showdown with the winner of Detroit - Orlando. That rest could be more valuable than sparing the minutes of Harden, Mitchell or Sam Merrill.
It is time, Kenny - get Schroder out of the rotation.
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