Tha Cynic wrote:ATLTimekeeper wrote:Here's the full Dennis-Raptors experience.
Raptors get outbid for Fred, surprised that Houston went for him instead of Harden. Plan B is Dennis.
Masai decides to feed the pigeons, "maybe it'll be good for us."
Scottie is given the second unit to run, because he's a PG, right?
Scottie flames out badly with the 2nd unit.
Darko calls Malachi ugly.
Malachi plays a little better, and Scottie defers to him.
OG traded, IQ is the new point guard and Dennis is benched for... Gary Trent Jr. (who has been pouting off the bench this whole time).
Dennis runs the bench like a pro.
Dennis calls out the team spirit.
Crickets.
Dennis traded for nothing because he did his job and let everyone know this situation is f'd.
Bobby Webster says they need to find guys that fit socially with Scottie.
Scottie back to running back-up PG and deferring to... Bruce Brown.
Gary is blowing 3:1 fast breaks and still seeing the floor.
Basically Dennis did what he was hired to do. He was a big drop off in quality from Fred, but a significant improvement over Malachi Flynn. He's probably too crotchety to have around a losing team.
Thanks Will for the "Dennis" perspective.
You may have forgotten that Schroder clearly signed here because he was told he would be a starter before season even started, and was pouting just like GTJ while he was playing off the bench. The team also sucked when they had him and all the veterans, and just decided to pull the plug. Something we can all agree was necessary.
It didn't make sense to keep a guy who wasn't part of the future plans, especially one who definitely likes to talk a lot, and in public. He routinely told is how much he loves some ex teammates even though he can't see to stick with any team (keeps being let go unceremoniously) and has even had trouble with the authorities in a previous stop. He very clearly didn't bond with anyone on the team other than a couple of bench guys who are all gone.
He is also very close with Darko and Darko clearly favoured him. There was nothing professional about this situation.
Anyway, did we not do him a favour by trading him away from a rebuild?
Dennis wasn't told he would start before the season started. It was discussed and it was his goal, but this wasn't a promise and he acknowledges that in this quote:
Schröder joins the Raptors with the expectation that he’ll be the starting point guard for the team next season.
While he’s willing to accept whatever role he’s given, he and Rajaković have already discussed using him in the starting lineup and he said that’s his goal, “to lead the team.”
Was he unhappy to lose the starting spot Gary Trent Jr? Probably. Trent Jr played like trash off the bench. If you were doing what you were told to do at work, giving the same quality of work you are capable of in your career, and then demoted because the person in
that position was dogging it you'd probably take that on the chin, right? That's what Dennis did. He played well off the bench, but the team was bleeding talent and injuries lined up that it didn't matter.
Darko favoured him by... not promising him anything and benching him for a black hole UFA that was dogging it all year? So unhealthy
As far as doing him a favour, I could care less. Maybe he is very happy to get away from here and a losing culture. I prefer a competitive environment, and so I can sympathize with what Dennis may have been struggling with. If they just want players to go 'Scottie superdupertrooperstar, do I get my minutes now???" for the next few years maybe it'll lead to a positive outcome, but if someone says something that doesn't even point a finger like "team spirit isn't really there" and it's considered blasphemy by management I'm discouraged. I truly hope Dennis' grumpiness, which was a known thing for years, wasn't the motivation. It makes more sense to me that they need Scottie to stop deferring and are just clipping guys that can handle the ball, and since the next 30 games are irrelevant due to the pick problem, they decided to wash their hands of Dennis.