As expected, Thunder guard Dennis Schröder has left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus in order to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, head coach Billy Donovan confirmed today, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“It happened this morning so he’s with his family at this point in time,” Donovan said. “I’ll have a chance to probably talk to him and find out a little bit more, if it’s not later today, tomorrow. But right now for at least this game, he’ll be out. We’ll probably be able to gather some more information once we get a chance to spend a little bit more time with his over the phone.”
Shortly after the Thunder arrived at the NBA’s campus last month, Schröder indicated that he anticipated leaving in early August for the birth of his child, so his departure doesn’t come as a surprise.
A Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Schröder has enjoyed the best season of his career in 2019/20, averaging 18.9 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 3.7 RPG with career-best shooting percentages of 46.9% from the floor and 37.9% from beyond the arc.
The NBA’s protocols for leaving and re-entering the Disney campus call for a quarantine period of four days when a player returns. That quarantine period can be extended all the way up to 10-14 days if the player doesn’t test negative for COVID-19 each day that he’s away (or for seven consecutive days leading up to his return, if he’s gone for more than a week). However, it seems likely that Schröder will make sure to get tested daily during his absence.
Even if Schröder’s absence is brief, he’s probably on track to miss at least the Thunder’s games against Denver (today), the Lakers (Wednesday), and the Grizzlies (Friday).
Losing the veteran guard for a handful of their seeding games will create a tougher path for the Thunder as they look to improve their place in the standings. At 41-24, Oklahoma City currently ranks sixth in the West, but is just a half-game behind Utah and Houston and only 1.5 games behind the third-seeded Nuggets.
Nuggets need to lose to Thunder Today
Nuggets fans love to see Clippers vs Rockets in the 2nd round
Agreed. The Nuggets have a much better chance in the 2nd round against the Lakers than they would against Houston or the Clippers.
We get it dude “Lakers bad”. You’re hater opinion of the Rockets having a better chance in the playoffs is comical. Imagine being duped into thinking the Rockets can take a Finals by winning every game 150-148 or that Westbrook and Harden don’t disappear in the playoffs every year. Kick the ball Charlie Brown! This year is different for “clutch city” huh?
Clippers will knock the rockets out.. in fact, lakers will knock rockets out. Everyone is sleeping on lakers but lakers have beaten all these teams.. raptors have lakers number.. I fear raptors and celtics in finals..
Houston is 1-1 against the Lakers so far this season. They are also 2-2 against the Clippers, 1-1 against the Bucks, 1-0 against Toronto, 2-2 against Denver, 2-0 against Boston, and 2-1 against Utah. The Rockets have gone 11-7 against the top teams in the NBA.
This has to be Daryl Moreys burner account. When is the “11-7 against top teams” banner going up?
Lakers beat rockets in Houston without ad
Rockets are going to be able to hold their own against anyone. The other teams should be worried about trying to keep up with their style of play. They will wear out the most conditioned teams period.
Playoff basketball and regular season are 2 different things.. harden struggles during playoffs
How are the playoffs going to be that different than the games they are playing right now in the bubble. Home court advantage is totally meaningless right now, so people who think the Lakers and Bucks are going to the Finals will be extremely disappointed. Don’t worry, Harden is in the best shape of his life right now. He will be just as dominant when the playoffs begin and his team advances into September and hopefully October as well.
Talking about hopefully… I am waiting to see pigs fly as well! Actually there is a better chance to see pigs fly than to see HOU in the WCF! Sorry the truth had to be said, dude!
How are playoffs different, really? Teams star players play more minutes.. Rotations shorten.. coaches have the ability to lock down on one specific opponent in the game room. You honestly think the lakers can’t beat a team that plays zero defense.. lakers are top 5 in defense. Lakers have size.. who on rockets will guard Ad? Who’s gonna guard lebron? Plus coach Pringle’s is one of the worst coaches.. playoff basketball isn’t a score feat.. no rebounds no rings.
In an article about a thunder player leaving the team to be with his new baby….0 comments are about said player, his actions or even his team…..nice.
Surprise surprise, while certain people ready to hand championship tickets rockets, they lose to a trailblazers team with size.. just shows, rockets are gonna struggle vs bigger teams