Evaluating Dennis Schröder's Ability to Pressure the Rim: How His Go-To Skill Will Help the Hornets

For years, the Charlotte Hornets have been on the lookout for a guard who can attack the rim. Someone who is able to create drives by himself, finish somewhat efficiently, and ideally make good passes out of tight spaces as well.

They tried out Théo Maledon, Frank Ntilikina, Collin Sexton, Ish Smith, Isaiah Thomas, and Dennis Smith Jr., just to name a few. Then, Coby White came along and did exactly what the Hornets wanted their backup point guard to do.

He did it so well, in fact, that they will now give him the chance to do it as a starter in place of LaMelo Ball. And so the gap behind the number one point guard, which was filled for about three months, is wide open once again.

And again, the Hornets have tried to fill it with a new acquisition. This time around, veteran NBA floor general Dennis Schröder will get his shot at solving the backup crisis.

Can he fill this role well enough for the next few years? Is he any different than the other NBA journeymen who were in his position recently? To answer those questions, I watched every field goal attempt, assist, and turnover in the paint by him.

Let's dive in and find out what conclusions arose!

1. Getting To The Rim

Judging by the numbers over the course of his career, Dennis Schröder can get to the rim just fine. His percentiles in that area have been consistently good, meaning he has regularly outperformed his NBA peers.

For example, if someone were to finish in the 100th percentile for a statistic, that would make them better than 100% of the competition, and if someone were to finish in the 0th percentile, that would make them better than 0% of the competition.

In his first 10 NBA seasons, Schröder finished in the 70th percentile or higher in rim attempts by guards 8 times. From 2017 to 2021, he finished above the 80th percentile every single time, breaking the 90th percentile barrier three times.

Ever since, he has seen his percentile rank in rim attempts decline a bit. Not to a bad level, but he has been hovering around the 65th percentile instead of the 80th for some years now. Part of that can be attributed to Schröder losing a step, but it's also important to consider the context of the teams he last featured in.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (James Harden/Donovan Mitchell/Evan Mobley), the Sacramento Kings (Zach LaVine/Domantas Sabonis/DeMar DeRozan/Russell Westbrook), the Detroit Pistons (Cade Cunningham), and the Golden State Warriors (Stephen Curry) all had one or more players with heavy shot diets around Schröder, which meant he was still on the ball a lot but not asked to actually drive it all that much.

The opposite should be the case in Charlotte, where rim pressure is scarce and anyone who can take the ball to the rim will be asked to do so. This is not to imply that Schröder's numbers will skyrocket back to where they were at five years ago, but it is logical to assume on a more balanced offensive team without big stars he can do more of what he's really good at instead of having to adjust.

What Schröder is also very good at, and probably always will be, is manipulating his defender with the ball in his hands. Few other guards in the NBA like to shift the ball, but also their own body, from side to side as much as Schröder. Especially against a favorable matchup, he can be trusted to shake his man loose and create a paint touch.

Want an example? Just check out these highlights from a recent national team game of Schröder's:

When watching the film on Schröder's pain attempts last year, all of this was further confirmed. Give him a big man or even a weak defensive guard, and it's a one-way street to the rim. There were few moments to suggest that Schröder can shed good-to-great defenders, but that's not something you can realistically ask for out of your backup point guard anyway.

2. Finishing

We've now established that even as an undersized, soon-to-be 32-year-old guard, there's ample reason to believe Schröder can still get to the rim at a solid rate. Now it's time to find out what actually comes from his paint touches.

Before we analyze the German's playmaking in the final part of this article, let's first take a closer look at his scoring around the rim.

The bad news first: Schröder isn't an efficient finisher. He had two years above 60% at the rim in the early 2020s, but apart from those, he's consistently finished around or below 55%.

For comparison, LaMelo Ball, a famously not-good finisher around the rim, has consistently been around that same 55% mark. Coby White has found himself at a solid ~63% mark over recent years.

The German native is right-handed, and that's very apparent in his finishing. On his way to the rim, he's very capable of using his left hand, but once he's at the cup, he wants to finish with his right hand, leading to attempts that are tougher than they have to be.

His calling card has rarely been his verticality and more so his speed, which he doesn't have as much of anymore. These physical attributes do limit him, both when he goes up to finish against taller or lengthier defenders and when he tries to actually leave someone behind on a drive, to the point where they would be unable to contest.

At the very least, the spacing on this Hornets' team, as well as some solid roll men in Reid, Steinbach, and Kalkbrenner, should help Schröder remain a slightly subpar but still respectable enough finisher to where opposing help defenders will see him as a threat to the rim.

There will be nights when Schröder's inability to finish consistently becomes frustrating, especially against good defensive teams.

But those should be infrequent enough not to create a negative trend. And when the Hornets face teams with multiple bad defenders, like the Denver Nuggets (if you ask Jaden McDaniels), Schröder will also have some positive performances around the rim.

Of course, finishing at the rim is not all that matters when scoring inside the paint. You can make a shot, miss a shot, or... get fouled. And that's where it gets exciting.

Dec 20, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder (17) reacts after getting fouled against the Portland Trail Blazers during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Because Schröder, throughout almost every career stop, has been good at doing just that. Getting fouled. This has become a highly discussed and sometimes even criticized skill around the NBA recently.

But whether you deem it to be unethical or not, it's a great asset to have as a guard who's struggling with his finishing. Let's again turn to the percentiles.

Over his 13-year career, Schröder has finished in the 70th percentile or higher in free-throw attempts per game nine times. He finished below the 60th percentile ONCE, in his rookie season. Last year marked the seventh straight for Schröder with a free-throw percentage of over 83%, so he's converting the freebies he's getting at a good rate.

Schröder's specialty is not necessarily getting fouled at the summit of his shot attempt. Oftentimes, he'll get a call when he's about to pick the ball up or has just gathered it. He is definitely not afraid of selling any contact he feels in those moments, and he is also very capable of creating it for the opponent if necessary.

3. Playmaking

So Schröder can get to the rim just fine, with the finishing being slightly concerning but definitely not outright bad. And he's one of the league's more savvy guards when it comes to drawing free throws. Now we arrive at the final part of this article's calculation: The playmaking.

Over the course of last season, Schröder's passing numbers look relatively promising. 4.9 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game are fine, and the resulting assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.75 is good for someone who played as many minutes and had as high a usage as he did.

Context is important here, as always, and in this case, that means looking at the players Schröder was allowed to dish passes to. Zach LaVine is one of the best shooters in the NBA, Domantas Sabonis is one of the best offensive bigs in the NBA, and the pairing of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden offers shot-making for days.

It's not like the Hornets lack shot-making, especially from behind the arc, but it's fair to say the lack of star-level shot-making in Charlotte will reflect a bit in Schröder's assist numbers.

As for what types of assists you can expect from the former Cleveland Cavalier... All of the basic ones, for starters. If there's an easy read to make, it'll be executed most of the time.

What Schröder did a lot for the Sacramento Kings at the beginning of last season was passing the ball in the short roll to Sabonis and in transition to shooters.

Of course, those passing archetypes will be extremely useful for what the Hornets plan to do this season. The German bench connection with Hannes Steinbach is already intriguing as is, but Dennis' proficiency in finding his big man in short-roll situations with Sacramento makes it even more exciting.

Jan 16, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) talks with guard Dennis Schroder (17) during the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

And when you add factors like Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel into the equation, Schröder's good eye in late transition is also very enticing.

All around, he's simply put a willing passer, mostly to his benefit but in some cases to his detriment. Part of the playmaking picture for him is also the fact that he has amassed quite a few bad pass turnovers.

Funnily enough, some of these will again fall away by not having Zach LaVine on his team, who he often threw lobs to; some of them too high to catch even for LaVine. It's possible Brandon Miller brings a similar level of lob-happiness out of Schröder, but that remains to be seen.

What will most definitely stay are the errors Schröder commits when he sees or senses multiple defenders close to him. He's not immune to driving to the paint, suddenly having a body in front of and behind him, and then fumbling the ball or getting a little hectic.

Conclusion

If you were to describe Dennis Schröder at this point in his career in one word, it would probably be: solid.

He will rarely have scoring explosions. He will commit unnecessary turnovers, especially against the league's best defenses. He will probably not finish all that efficiently around the rim.

But he WILL still attack the rim without fear regularly, he WILL make the right pass more often than not, and he WILL immediately be the best player on this Hornets roster when it comes to drawing a foul out of nothing and nowhere.

Is Schröder the answer to the Hornets' year-long search for a backup point guard? Not in the long-term. He is 32 years old, and he has indicated that he would like to play for his hometown club in Braunschweig, Germany, before retiring.

But, and this is the most important "but" of the article: he is the best short-term solution they have found apart from Coby White. And that's worth a ton for a team that finally wants to make a serious push for the postseason after 10 years of hurt.

To hear more general analysis on Dennis Schröder, feel free to check out the corresponding podcast episode on the Charlotte Hornets on SI YouTube (HERE) or Spotify (HERE) channel.

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