Former Raptors' Olympic dominance suggests Toronto's trade deadline mistake

One of these things is not like the other.

That's how it felt looking at the Toronto Raptors' sequence of trades leading into this past season's trade deadline. They made some blockbuster trades to move off of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, getting younger and adding some draft assets. They also made a third trade for the future, adding a shooting big in Kelly Olynyk to give Scottie Barnes and company the space they needed to develop (and taking a failed swing at Ochai Agbaji in the process).

The trade that stuck out was their fourth deal sending point guard Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, whom the Raptors immediately waived.

It was a surprising move, because Schroder was having a solid season for the Raptors and they essentially dumped him for nothing. Toronto did so because Schroder was under contract for 2024-25 at $13 million, while Dinwiddie was on an expiring deal. Moving on from Schroder opened up more cap space this summer to make a move.

Looking back, however, the trade goes from surprising to questionable, and in large part it's because of the explosive dominance of Dennis Schroder at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Dennis Schroder is dominating in Paris

Despite playing in the same group as host nation France, the silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, it has been Germany who went 3-0 in pool play to secure a top seed as the teams move to the knockout stages of the Olympic Tournament.

Germany took down Brazil, Japan and most recently France itself in succession, going up by as many as 21 points on France in front of a stunned crowd and ultimately securing a 14-point win. Despite the star power on other teams (Germany doesn't have a single All-Star on its roster) the 2023 World Cup Champions are dominating the competition.

While they have many players contributing to that success, including a potential breakout from Franz Wagner and an inexplicable relevance for Daniel Theis, the best player for Germany, and arguably above any other player in the field, has been Dennis Schroder.

In the slightly-altered play of FIBA international basketball Schroder comes alive, zipping into the lane and causing havoc for defenses. His touch around the rim and from floater range is on point, and he is comfortable pulling up at the shorter 3-point line. He is averaging 19.7 points per game and shooting 55 percent from the field, 41 percent from 3-point range and is perfect from the line.

More than simply a scorer, however, Schroder also leads the field in assists, as his ability to knife into the paint opens up space for his teammates, and he is hitting them in perfect position for open shots. Non-NBA players such as Isaac Bonga and Johannes Voigtmann are in perfect position to catch and shoot off of Schroder's passes.

Germany has three double-digit wins thus far, and they are in line to face a soft opponent in the quarterfinals (likely a thin Greece team, but perhaps South Sudan) and avoid Team USA until the gold medal match. Dennis Schroder has taken his game to the next level in France.

The Raptors may have made a mistake

To be fair to the Toronto Raptors, Dennis Schroder had not leveled up when they traded him back in February, but they clearly could have received much better value for the German point guard if he were still on the roster. He looks like a Top-20 point guard in the league right now, and his combination of driving, scoring and shooting, not to mention confident passing, would make him coveted around the league.

The Raptors traded Schroder for cap space at the trade deadline, cap space they didn't even use. They picked up Bruce Brown's $23 million team option and opted to stay "above the cap" so the space they opened by moving on from Schroder never came to fruition. Would Toronto rather have Schroder at $13 million or Davion Mitchell at $6.4 million? It's fairly comfortably Schroder, even if the plan was just to trade him.

The Raptors hope Immanuel Quickley turns into a star, and perhaps having Schroder on the roster interferes with that in some way. He certainly wouldn't have the space to run the offense as he does for Team Germany. There is no denying the fact, however, that he is playing exceptionally well on the international stage, and if that continues his value for the Brooklyn Nets will only go up. That's value the Raptors could have had, but punted away for financial savings they never used.

It's not the most damaging of mistakes, but it does appear to be one at this stage. Things can and do change in the NBA, and right now, Schroder is changing into a player not ready to enter the twilight of his career. He still has a lot to offer, as he is showing on a global stage.