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Breaking down the Charlotte Hornets' reported interest in Dennis Schröder

Charlotte Hornets On SI · Jul 22, 2026 16:36 · 3 min read

Breaking Down the Charlotte Hornets' Reported Interest In Dennis Schröder — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Why would Charlotte be interested in acquiring the veteran point guard?

The Charlotte Hornets have no chance of landing LeBron James in free agency.

I'm sorry to be the one to break that news to you.

That doesn't mean the GOAT's free agency decision won't have ripple effects on the rest of Charlotte's offseason dealings, though.

As the NBA world waits for James' next move, the futures of some veteran players are in flux. Most of the teams assumed to be in LeBron's top six: Cleveland, Denver, Golden State, Miami, Minnesota, and Philadelphia, will need to make corresponding moves to fill out or trim their roster to acclimate the signing of the four-time MVP.

If LeBron James returns to Cleveland, it doesn't take much squinting to see how Charlotte could be involved as a conduit to making that happen.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Hornets have "been linked with interest in [Dennis] Schröder." Cleveland acquired the journeyman point guard, along with Keon Ellis, at last season's trade deadline, and now he seems like the player on the Cavs' roster (along with swingman Max Strus) that is the most likely to get caught in the crossfire of the franchise's potential reunion with LeBron James.

Why Would Charlotte Be Interested in Schröder?

Charlotte's interest in Schröder checks out to this author. After trading LaMelo Ball, the Hornets are in desperate need of some depth at the point guard position.

Christian Anderson Jr. was just fine in Summer League, but he could use an extended runway to develop before Charlotte hands him the reins of their second unit. Grayson Allen, Tre Mann, and Sion James are all useful basketball players, but uninspiring options to be Coby White's primary backup and initiate offense for extended stretches.

Schröder, who played in Atlanta when Jeff Peterson was a part of the Hawks' front office, will be 33-years-old when next season tips off, but he still has some gas left in the tank. He is a slippery driver who can still get to the rim at a high level and create shots for his teammates. In 30 regular season games in Cleveland, Schröder racked up a 27.3% assist rate and a 1.20 assist/usage rate while attempting 30% of his field goal attempts at the rim; three numbers that would have been near career-highs if extrapolated over a full season.

The veteran ball handler has definitely lost a step from his prime years, but he's a fine backup at this stage of his career.

On the surface, Schröder's contract looks daunting -- he is set to make $14.8M in 2026-27 and $15.1M in 2027-28. However, only $4.3M is guaranteed in the second season of his contract, which makes it much more palatable to acquire for a team like Charlotte who continues to put a premium on future flexibility.

If Cleveland is looking to just dump Schröder to another team to free up finances to sign LeBron, Charlotte could absorb him into the $40.8M traded player exception created in the LaMelo trade and send one of Pat Connaughton or Mo Gueye's non-guaranteed contracts back to Cleveland. In that scenario, I'd imagine that the Hornets would acquire some second-round draft capital from the Cavaliers to help them sign the two biggest fish left in free agency: LeBron James and James Harden.

Charlotte needs to do something to supplement their back court before the season starts, and acquiring Schröder is the perfect type of low-risk, medium(ish?)-reward move that they should make.

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