Warriors' Dennis Schroder Says NBA Trade Deadline Is 'Modern Slavery'

Ryan Phillips | Feb 4, 2025

Dennis Schroder is averaging 14.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game during the 2024-25 season. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Dennis Schröder is not a big fan of the NBA's trade deadline.

On Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors guard reacted to the Luka Dončić trade that sent the 25-year-old to the Los Angeles Lakers and expanded on his thoughts regarding the trade deadline.

Schröder didn't like how the Dallas Mavericks shipped Doncic out after everything he had accomplished for the team. In addition, Doncic can't sign the same supermax extension he was eligible for with Dallas and may have lost more than $100 million. Schröder then said, "Not even Steph Curry's safe probably when I see that. It's a f---ed up business."

He wasn't done going off on the system and the trade deadline.

"It's like modern slavery. It's modern slavery at the end of the day," Schröder said. "Everybody can decide where you’re going, even if you have a contract. Yeah, of course, we make a lot of money and we can feed our families, but at the end of the day if they say, 'You’re not coming to work tomorrow, you’re going over there,' they can decide that. They got to change that a little bit. "

He did say NBA players are lucky to get to live how they do. "But still grateful that we’re here and that we can live this every single day. I think everybody who’s in here is blessed. But if you really think about it, it is kind of crazy that the organization can tell you, 'We want you to be team-first, but you’re going over there.' It’s a lot," Schröder said.

The 31-year-old has been traded five times during his 12-year career. And now the Warriors are looking to make moves before Thursday's trade deadline, which could mean he or his teammates could be out the door.

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