Dennis Schroder happier with Thunder, their winning mentality than he was with Hawks

It’s safe to say that, not even halfway through the year, Dennis Schroder is happy he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The guard landed in Oklahoma this past summer after being traded from the Atlanta Hawks, and is off to a solid start, too. He’s averaged 15.4 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game this season, and is playing nearly 30 minutes per contest.

While the Hawks were fine when he first landed in Atlanta — Schroder was their first-round draft pick in 2013 — things went downhill rapidly.

Atlanta won just 24 games last season, and lost coach Mike Budenholzer at the end of the year. Many, including Schroder, saw the Hawks’ rough year as an attempt at tanking, too, which would certainly make it a difficult season for any veterans on the team.

After making that commitment to a rebuild — something, in the long run, the Hawks probably needed to do — Schroder said he feels much better off in Oklahoma City.

To put it simply, it’s much more fun.

“I wanted to be in a winning mentality organization,” Schroder told The Oklahoman. “You just can’t go out there and try to lose.

“I’m a competitor and I try to give everything out there. I want the organization to feel the same way. Right now with our organization, all the players in the locker room, all of the coaches, they’ve got a winning mentality. That’s what makes it fun, when you go out there and go to war with your brothers. There’s nothing better than that.”

Schroder made the trip back to Atlanta on Tuesday night, his first game back at State Farm Arena since the trade. The Thunder fell 142-126, but the 25-year-old had a solid night, dropping 21 points, six assists and three rebounds off the bench.

And even though he’s only been with Schroder for a short time, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he can tell how much of an impact he had in Atlanta — even if they weren’t always winning.

“I think he did a lot of great things here,” Donovan told The Oklahoman. “He started his career here, he invested a lot of time, and he was on some really great teams.

“As players started to leave in trades and things like that, he kinda got thrust into a leadership role. I would think that the people here would have great respect for him in terms of his competitiveness, how great he is, how hard he works. I do believe just being around him for a short period of time winning is the most important thing and he probably did everything he could to help the team win.”

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