Dennis Schröder (PG, ATL) - NBA Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Speculative Add/Stash in All Leagues

OWNED: 27% of Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball Leagues

Dennis Schröder was Atlanta’s first-round pick out of Germany in the 2013 NBA Draft. Now in his third NBA season, he has raised his career highs across the board while displaying outstanding quickness, ball-handling, and improved vision on the floor. At 22 years old, Schröder is clearly the Hawks point guard of the future and that future might come sooner than most expected.

Atlanta’s current starting point guard Jeff Teague has not been able to repeat his All Star caliber play from a year ago and only has one full season remaining on his deal after the 2015-2016 campaign. While Atlanta isn’t actively shopping Teague with the NBA trade deadline just two weeks away, they are clearly listening to teams that are interested in acquiring his services. In the past week alone, numerous trade rumors surrounding Teague have been reported, including a potential deal to the Knicks or the Jazz who are both starved for point guard help.

Adding the extremely talented Schröder to your fantasy team now could be a move that has huge implications as we near the fantasy playoffs. In six starts this season, Schröder has played right around 29 minutes, averaging some pretty solid numbers: 13.7 ppg/5.5 apg/3.8 rpg/1.5 3PM/0.8 spg. Should Teague be dealt in the next two weeks, the keys to the car would be placed in the hands of Schröder, who has the talent and potential to put up numbers that might even exceed what we've seen in a small sample size so far.

Bottom Line: Adding a guy like Schröder, who will most likely remain a bench option for Atlanta over the next two weeks, certainly has its risks. If you are a team safely entrenched in your league’s playoff picture, this is a move that makes a ton of sense, as the two week period where Schröder remains of borderline fantasy value will not hurt. It's possible Teague could stay put, but the potential payoff of stashing his German backup could prove pivotal when it comes to winning a championship.