Will Dennis Schroder be traded? That question has been the elephant in the room for the Pistons in this off-season. And Schroder isn’t new to switching clubs after a short stint. For context, Schroder has played for four different teams in the last four years. But it felt like he might hang around Detroit for another season at least. After all, Schroder had the confidence of members of the front office and his teammates, with Jalen Duren even saying that “(Schröder) is another guy who can make plays and we can trust the ball in his hands.” Despite that, the player and the team haven’t been able to work out a trade deal yet. Judging from the 31-year-old’s recent comments, no additional hope for the same seems to be on the horizon.

On Saturday, Dennis Schroder did a live stream, allowing people from around the world to ask him questions. As expected, several of the comments were about convincing him to stay with the Pistons or asking about his status with the team. The player, with a neutral expression, responded by saying, “I want to stay in Detroit for sure, but Detroit ain’t waiting for me, I can tell you that much”. Yikes!

Dennis Schroder had a steady role with the Pistons during the regular season and the playoffs. He averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.3 assists with the team throughout 28 games. Schröder did well in helping fill in for Jaden Ivey last season after he underwent surgery on a broken fibula in his left leg in January. Therefore, there is no reason why the team shouldn’t give him a shot to stick around for a while. Furthermore, even with Jaden Ivey expected to be back in time for training camp, having another guard option could help in the Detroit Pistons’ workload management, especially since Ivey won’t be at 100% even after his return. Despite this, Dennis Schroder not being given a new contract indicates that the Detroit Pistons might be looking for a way to move away from the 31-year-old.

Another possibility might be that the Detroit Pistons and Dennis Schroder’s agents aren’t able to reach a deal they can agree on. After all, Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon recently affirmed his faith in Schröder, alongside Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. He did so by stating, “We have stated that we are interested, and they’re interested in us. But again, agents have to do their job for their players, survey the market and see what’s there, and hopefully we can come to a resolution in bringing those guys back. But we have to do our due diligence as well, in case they choose another destination”.

Pistons beat writer Omari Sankofa II believes that the team can offer Schröder a starting salary of $22.8 million. The Nets, anyway, are the only team with enough cap space to offer more than $14.1 million. With no data available on the specific asks of either the player or the team, it is hard to determine what is holding them back.

If no deal is formed in the coming days, Dennis Schroder will either be traded or the player will enter free agency. Fortunately, if he chooses the latter, there is one team that has already shown openness to acquire him.

Will Dennis Schroder head to the Sacramento Kings if he enters free agency?

According to NBC Sports reporter Joaquin Ruiz and NBA insider Marc Stein, Sacramento reportedly is believed to be a leading suitor for veteran guard Dennis Schröder. Free agency doesn’t officially start until Monday. Despite that, league sources reportedly claim that “numerous teams are operating under the belief” that the Kings have the better chance of getting Dennis Schröder.

The Sacramento Kings have already made moves to make their squad better during the recent offseason. During the 2025 NBA Draft, the Kings got Nique Clifford after completing a draft-day trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, it did not stop there. The team also landed Maxime Raynaud by getting the 42nd overall pick, and then provided a two-way contract to Dylan Cardwell. However, even the draft did not solve one of the Kings’ major issues: a true point guard. An issue that has existed since the Nets lost De’Aaron Fox. An issue that acquiring Dennis Schroder can solve.

Joaquin Ruiz claimed that the veteran can help Kings coach Doug Christie provide stability on the offensive front. He has shown the ability to be a quality backup point guard in many different situations. Furthermore, his ability to knife through defenses and work the pick-and-roll game can work well with a Kings team that is looking to overtake the Golden State Warriors as the better team in the Northern California region. If not for the long term, then at least for a while.

Dennis Schroder will not be cheap. However, the Kings are one of 12 teams that have the full midlevel available to spend this offseason. Therefore, the player could certainly be made an offer that would allow him to switch to a 5th team in 2 years. Whatever happens would certainly be an interesting thing to anticipate for the next NBA season.