Atlanta Hawks backup point guard Dennis Schröder recently said that he wants to replace Jeff Teague as the team's starter or else he "will look for other opportunities" elsewhere.
Dan Feldman of NBC Sports' Pro Basketball Talk first reported the German playmaker's comments as the 22-year-old was interviewed by his local media outlet Bild.
"My goal is to start as point guard," the 17th overall pick of the 2013 draft said. "If this doesn't happen, I will look for other opportunities."
"The Hawks are a great team, the city is nice and everything is perfect now. Teague? He was an All-Star and he helped me a lot. I must be patient and work hard and eventually I'll have my opportunities," Schröder added.
Those were strong statements from a guy who averaged 10.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists playing in just 19.7 minutes per night off the bench for the losing NBA Eastern Conference finalists last season. He was also consistent in the playoffs with a 9.0/1.8/3.9 average in the said three categories while just playing 18.1 minutes per game.
Schröder's numbers are a solid reinforcement to the 27-year-old Teague's 17.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, and 7.0 apg in 30.5 mpg last season.
With such strong performance from a bench player, head coach Mike Budenholzer should not overlook Schröder's remarks even if it would be a potential problem for the Hawks this coming season.
CBS Sports' James Herbert noted that "there's absolutely nothing wrong with Schröder setting his sights on starting", adding "that's what he should want, just based on his ability".
However, making his sentiments public may not be the right thing to do for the young floor general at the moment if only to preserve locker room peace and harmony.
The present reality is he is Teague's backup or perhaps the Hawks undisputed Sixth Man off the bench. What he should do is to continue improving and stay consistent day in and day out, which would naturally attract the attention of his own coach or the 29 other coaches of the league.