After making their first, and hopefully not last, trade before the deadline, the Sacramento Kings have sent Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder to the Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal. The problem for Schroder is that he's now one trade closer to the all-time record, which is not a great goal.
Born in Germany, Schroder was drafted 17th overall by the Hawks in 2013. He ended up spending five seasons in Atlanta, which would turn out to be his longest run with any team in the league. His second-longest tenure was two seasons with the Thunder, the team he moved to after the Hawks.
Since then, Dennis has been part of multiple teams, some of which were only on paper as part of quick trades. He's been tied to the Celtics, Rockets, Raptors, Nets, Warriors, Pistons, Kings, had two runs with the Lakers, and now the Cavaliers. Schroder has built up quite the jersey collection.
At this point, Schroder has been traded eight times, which puts him in a multi-player tie for second place on the all-time trades list. Trevor Ariza holds the record for the most times being traded in the history of the league at 11. The Cavs trade puts Schroder one step closer to that record.
Why did the Kings trade Dennis Schroder?
The simple answer to why Schroder keeps getting traded is that he's good enough to trade for but not good enough to keep. In the Kings' case, they brought him in as the starting point guard, and he couldn't handle it. He played reasonably well off the bench, but the writing was on the wall.
It's safe to say that other teams have felt relatively the same way as the Kings. Since leaving OKC, Schroder has never played more than one season with the same team, outside of two nonconsecutive stints with the Lakers.
Keep in mind that this is partially Schroder's fault. During his first run with the Lakers in 2020-2021, he was offered a four-year deal worth approximately $84 million. He turned it down because he thought he could do better. He did not, and began bouncing around the league for far less money.
If Schroder gets traded one more time, he'll secure second place on the list of players traded the most times. Schroder is only 32 and could easily play five more seasons in the NBA. At the rate he gets traded, he could play for five or six more teams in that time. That shouldn't be the goal, though.