The Atlanta Hawks benefitted last season from improved play with Jeff Teague and Dennies Schroder having success off the bench. The point guard tandem fed perfectly into the new offensive system as the team looks to duplicate that in 2015. Teague has established himself as the franchise point guard while Schroder is still coming into his own in the league. However, the young point guard has no intentions of being a backup any longer.
Schroder is making a big endorsement for himself. The point guard was interviewed by Sports 1 in Germany and said that if he is not a starter for the Hawks he will look for opportunities elsewhere. The point guard is currently playing behind Teague who was an All-Star last season.
"My goal is to start as point guard" Schroder said, via Sport1 and Sportando. "If this doesn't happen, I will look for other opportunities. The Hawks are a great team, the city is nice and everything is perfect now. Teague? He was an All-Star and he helped me a lot. I must be patient and work hard and eventually I'll have my opportunities."
Schroder is a talent. The point guard averaged 10.0 points and 4.1 assists in 19.7 minutes per game last year. At 22 he has an impressive career ahead of him, but right now he is behind Teague and it will stay that way. Both Schroder and Teague have two more seasons on their contracts. Schroder will be restricted in 2018 while Teague is an unrestricted free agent. If Teague continues to play the way he did last year, at just 27 he will get another deal with the Hawks. That might mean Schroder goes elsewhere. Unless someone blows Atlanta away with a trade offer, the point guard is going nowhere any time soon.
Can the same be said for Al Horford? The center made it clear earlier in the offseason that even though he was eligible to get a contract this summer, he intended on holding out until next year to get a new deal. With the NBA TV deals set to kick in, Horford will be able to make more money with the Hawks than he could this year.
According to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Horford has switched agents with free agency right around the corner. Of course that could mean very little in terms of his future. Horford has made no indication that he intends to leave the Hawks in free agency, but the center will want to make sure he gets his money much like Paul Millsap did this year.
For now the Hawks are focused on the season ahead which comes with raised expectations. The starting lineup will look much different for the team. AJC.com is reporting that head coach Mike Budenholzer intends to run a bigger lineup this season with Millsap, Horford and potentially Mike Muscala getting the starting nods. Tiago Splitter would be the first big off the bench along with Thabo Sefolosha.
