Lakers News: Dennis Schröder Missing Work For Best Possible Reason
Los Angeles Lakers reserve point guard Dennis Schröder, in the midst of his second non-consecutive tour of duty with the club, is missing work today for the best possible reason: Schröder's wife Ellen Ziolo just gave birth to their third child, a boy, yesterday, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports.
This marks actually the second time in recent days that a Laker's family has expanded. Two-time L.A. champ Pau Gasol and his wife Catherine McDonnell announced earlier that this week.
It's always nice to report some happy non-hoops Lakers news along these lines.
Schröder signed a one-year, veteran's minimum contract to return to the Lakers late this summer, after splitting an unhappy 2021-22 season between the Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets on a $5.9 million taxpayer mid-level exception contract. He had reportedly rejected a lucrative four-year contract extension, said to be worth in the neighborhood of $80 million, while with the Lakers in 2020-21.
The 29-year-old vet enjoyed a robust run through EuroBasket 2022 during the offseason, and had attracted the attention of several teams before ultimately deciding to return to L.A.
Schröder missed the start of the year while recovering from a preseason thumb surgery, but has quickly cemented a role as a key reserve for Los Angeles since making his season debut last month.
Through seven games (including four starts), he is averaging 8.4 points on .396/.333/.889 shooting splits, along with 3.6 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 0.6 steals, in 25.3 minutes a night. Los Angeles will certainly miss his drives tonight against a clampdown Milwaukee Bucks defense.
L.A.'s own mid-level exception signing in 2021, reserve guard Kendrick Nunn, who has basically been squeezed out of the Lakers' rotation by Schröder, seems likely to pick up some of his minutes at Fiserv Forum for this evening's contest. Versatile guard Austin Reaves could be the other big benefactor of Schröder's absence, picking up additional run.
