Are Atlanta Hawks on the Verge of a Point Guard Controversy?

Both Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder enjoyed breakout seasons for the Atlanta Hawks in 2014-15.

The 27-year-old Teague made his first All-Star Game and showed an intimate knowledge of head coach Mike Budenholzer's offense in a starting role. The 21-year-old Schroder took some huge strides from his rookie year and emerged as one of the most dangerous reserves in the NBA with his scoring and passing ability.

The problem is that they both play point guard.

Teague has to start; he's too good to be relegated to a bench role. And Schroder? He just may be the NBA's next superstar floor general. Although he's part of Atlanta's second unit at the moment, he'll be overqualified for that role soon enough.

Is this embarrassment of riches a problem for Atlanta? We'll look at both Teague's and Schroder's skill sets and potential, evaluate whether it's an issue and then outline what the Hawks should do about it.

The Skinny on Teague

Teague just keeps getting better.

His entire career has been a search for the proper balance between scoring and passing, and the 6'2" point guard finally found his sweet spot in season No. 6. It gave him the first All-Star selection of his career and was a big reason for Atlanta's 60-win season.

Offensively, Teague is one of the top eight to 10 floor generals in the game. He isn't a stud in any one area—his outside shot is decent, both off the dribble and off the catch; he has nice explosiveness and touch around the rim; he has a quick, efficient handle; and his awareness of the court is solid. 

Play Type	Frequency	Points/Possession	League Percentile
Pick-and-Roll Ball-Handler	39.2%	0.90	84.7
Transition	20.3%	1.01	32.7
Isolation	15.2%	0.84	57.3
Spot-Up	9.4%	1.03	68.9
Miscellaneous	5.7%	0.76	90.3
Handoff	4.2%	1.00	74.0
Off Screen	3.5%	0.95	62.9
Cut	1.5%	1.47	91.9
Putback	0.8%	0.80	9.2

He's the knowledgeable operator of the well-oiled Hawks offense, or, as Jonathan Auping of Vice Sports put it, "He has the keys to a Ferrari, and he keeps his hands at 10 and two on the wheel."

On the other end of the court, the best way to describe Teague's play is "satisfactory." Of the Hawks starters from 2014-15, Jeff probably gave the least effort on defense. He didn't slack off, per se, but he wasn't a workhorse compared to the likes of DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap.

Teague's numbers on that end do favor his on-ball work, however. He held pick-and-roll ball-handlers to 0.70 points per possession, ninth in the NBA among players who defended at least 200 of those possessions.

Overall, Teague's skill set fits the Hawks system to a T. He runs the pick-and-roll well, isn't too ball-dominant and has the requisite shooting stroke to maintain spacing. He also finds spot-up shooters and roll men in good scoring positions. His defense isn't great, especially off the ball, but he's good enough to contain most opposing point guards.

If the first six years of Teague's career are any indication, the 27-year-old still has a few more years of improvement left before his athleticism starts to decline.

The Skinny on Schroder

Schroder is not nearly the player Teague is yet, and most of the differences between the two are from the neck up.

The German 21-year-old is the type of guy who looks like a superstar if you only pay attention to his highlights. For example, watch him get the best of Rajon Rondo last December in a 105-102 Hawks win over the Dallas Mavericks:

In the video, you see a lightning-quick 6'1" point guard with excellent finishing ability and great confidence in his shot. He shows off his on-target passing ability in the play starting at the one-minute, 24-second mark, and you also see his pesky defense a few times.

What the video didn't show, however, was his four fouls or his five turnovers—or the fact he scored only five points on 2-of-8 shooting with four giveaways in the Hawks' next game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

You just don't know what to expect from the youngster. It's feast or famine with him from game to game, quarter to quarter and sometimes even possession to possession. He'll make an acrobatic layup on one play and then follow it up with an ill-advised contested pull-up jumper or a boneheaded turnover on the next, probably stemming from his occasional overconfidence on the court.

On defense, Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal summarized his abilities: "Schroder is still developing off the ball, where he can get caught looking at the action and losing track of his man a bit too often. When he's able to settle down into his stance, however, he's awfully hard to get around."

Schroder is a net positive for the Hawks who is still too raw and inconsistent to take on a full-time starting role.

All that is to say, however, the youngster made a huge leap between his rookie and sophomore seasons in almost every aspect of the game, a leap that says a lot about the 21-year-old's potential.

How did Schroder improve so much? By listening to Teague's advice.

In an interview with Grantland's Charles Bethea, Schroder said the following about his relationship with Teague during practice:

"When he sees me do something wrong, he tells me how to do it better. In the games, he tells me, 'You’re good at this, you can go to the basket.' Every time he tells me something, I try to do it next time. That’s the difference between this year and last year."

Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

The German wunderkind also has an insatiable drive to improve, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore.

"I’m never going to be satisfied," Schroder said. "I want to get better every day and don’t try to waste my time. I did a great step from last year to this year. I still want to get better and one day be a starter."

He'll be a starter someday. But will it be in Atlanta?

Is There a Point Guard Controversy on the Horizon?

Yes, the Hawks will have to deal with their point guard dilemma in the not-too-distant future, possibly during the 2015-16 season. Schroder is quickly improving and will likely reach Teague's level and maybe even surpass it in the next few years. His physical tools and talent were made for a featured role, and there's no point in keeping around two stars at the same position. The team can get value at bigger positions of need by trading one of the two.

Before you say anything about their playing together, no, the Hawks cannot keep them both and pass them off as a starting backcourt. The Teague-Schroder combination might work well on occasion, but it's too small to consistently succeed on defense. Also, neither player is great without the ball in his hands.

Who's Playing?	Regular-Season Net Rating	Playoffs Net Rating
Only Teague on Floor	+9.5	+5.7
Only Schroder on Floor	-0.3	-10.2
Teague and Schroder on Floor Together	-0.7	-14.9

So what's the best plan for Atlanta moving forward?

First, it's important to identify the front-office strategy, which is to win now. The team proved as much when it traded for two-year veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. on NBA draft night instead of drafting a potential-filled rookie like Kelly Oubre Jr. or Bobby Portis. The Hawks confirmed their plan a week later, when they traded a future second-round pick for 30-year-old big man Tiago Splitter.

With that cleared up, keeping Teague should be the definite priority. He's still 27 and will likely play at a high level for at least another few years. Millsap (30 years old) and Al Horford (29 years old) are nearing the end of their respective primes, and it would be wasteful to use their last few good years developing a young point guard instead of going with a proven star.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Also, you have to think about the respective trade values of Teague and Schroder.

The former is the better player, but what if Schroder improves some more this summer (which he likely will) and averages, say, 12 points and five assists per game off the bench? That would do wonders to repair whatever damage he made to his reputation with an inefficient postseason.

Dennis also has a valuable contract, receiving just $1.8 million guaranteed in 2015-16, per Spotrac. The team acquiring him would have an option on that same deal worth approximately $2.7 million for 2016-17 as well. Meanwhile, Teague is owed a guaranteed $16 million over the next two years, which is a good deal but not as much of a steal as Schroder's is.

Which squad with a need at point guard wouldn't want to acquire Schroder, a potential superstar at an extremely low price on a team-friendly contract?

The Hawks would get a boatload of value in return for that. They could get proven talent at bigger positions of need, draft picks or both.

All in all, it would be awesome to see Schroder develop into a star with Atlanta. But it doesn't fit what the team is trying to do.

Barring a random decline in play by Teague, the Hawks can put their trust in their All-Star point guard and wait until Schroder's trade value is high enough to get a package the team knows it deserves for the youngster.

All statistics and measurements are from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com and ESPN.com (including ESPN's Hollinger Stats) and updated through July 21 unless otherwise indicated.

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