SACRAMENTO – Almost to a man, the Kings spent much of Monday’s media day gushing about the offseason acquisition of Dennis Schröder.
The 32-year-old point guard is part of general manager Scott Perry’s makeover meant to get his squad back to being relevant after an overwhelmingly disappointing 2024-25 NBA campaign left fans wringing their hands and muttering in frustration when they walked out of a beam-less Golden 1 Center last season.
First-time head coach Doug Christie was at the forefront, leading the cheers. Schröder was a player the coach had been eyeing for some time, and Christie sounded like a kid on Christmas morning while talking to reporters about the veteran point guard during Monday’s media day.
“Identifying Dennis in the offseason was big for me,” Christie said. “I’m a super, super fan. I really appreciate how he brings his heart to the game. Handing him the basketball makes me feel real comfortable that he’s going to bring the right type of demeanor and leadership and all of those things.
“As a coach, I want him to exemplify me on the floor. And if you guys know me, I’m a little rough and I think that that is a lot of what you see with him. He’s not backing down. Super excited to have him, super excited that he is our point guard and leading us into the future.”
Signing Schröder to a three-year, $45 million contract over the summer solved the Kings’ biggest offseason question.
Sacramento has been without a true point guard since trading away De’Aaron Fox early last season. Zach LaVine played out of position and ran the point for most of the season after Fox’s departure, with Keon Ellis coming off the bench to orchestrate the offense while LaVine rested.
Schröder’s arrival theoretically should bring some stability to Sacramento’s backcourt, a sentiment that is shared by several of his new teammates, who expressed their fondness after he helped Germany capture the gold medal at the FIBA EuroBasket tournament.
“True guard, veteran guard that knows the game,” Malik Monk said. “Just came off MVP (In EuroBasket). Not too many people can say that and come back and play in the NBA. That just shows how great he is of a player.”
Kings’ big man Domantas Sabonis echoed Monk, pointing out Schroder’s international success as being a key factor.
“Dennis is fantastic,” Sabonis said. “He’s been proving it in FIBA the last couple of years, doing amazing things. (Has) a high IQ and who can get all of us in the right position.”
Therein lies the rub.
Schröder has made his bones in the NBA by playing tight, efficient and gritty defense. A first-round pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 2013, he will be asked to bring that same intensity to the state capital while being handed the reigns to run Christie’s offense.
It’s a challenge Schröder welcomed, given that the Kings’ offensive firepower trio of scorers in Sabonis, LaVine and DeMar DeRozan should make facilitating the offense pretty easy.
“How we want to play, everybody is touching the ball, everybody is sharing it,” Schröder said. “We play fast. Everybody shooting a lot of threes, putting pressure on the rim. I think that’s the most fun playing basketball. I think everybody just going to be engaged defensively. I think it starts there and then offensively.
“If we commit on winning basketball, I think we’re going to be really, really tough. It starts tomorrow with training camp, getting on the same page, everybody being focused and willing to commit to basketball, winning basketball.”
Schröder brings a lot more to the Kings than just his defense and the ability to run an offense. With 12 years of experience under his belt, Schroder brings a voice of experience and leadership that should benefit a team with a young roster like Sacramento’s.
“I think just playing with pace, defensively, picking up 94 feet, bringing intensity on that end, kind of that dog mentality,” Schroder said. “Offensively playing with pace, sharing the ball, move the defense side to side, That’s how we play with the national team and we had a lot of success that way. And I hope that we can come together as a team doing the same things, and it’s going to be really, really hard to stop us then.”
As much as the spotlight is on Schröder and the Kings’ offense, his main focus will remain on defense.
“That’s my game, always try to do the right things for the team defensively,” he said. “I think we can pick it up another level. And that’s that’s the reason why I’m here. I’ve been doing this my whole life. I always had to find my way so I can impact the game. That’s just my identity. That’s how I play. And I hope that the Kings organization, my teammates love that and bring the same physicality or the same mindset.
“Because if we do that, I think it’s really, really tough to beat us and to play against us.”
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