Lakers News: Dennis Schröder Returning To L.A. On One-Year Deal
Your Los Angeles Lakers appear to be shoring up their point guard depth with (what else?) another former Laker.
Veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, who suited up for L.A. during the 2020-21 season, is returning to the club on a one-year deal, his agent Marc Bartelstein informs Marc Stein. Stein had previously reported in August that the team was seriously considering bringing Schröder back.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the contract is set to pay Schröder a veteran's minimum salary of $2.64 million for the 2022-23 season. This is a far, far cry from the four-year, $84 million extension he reportedly rejected during his lone prior year with L.A. Schroder joined the Lakers in a trade, riding high off his second season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. As the Lakers' starting point guard, his fortunes began to turn, though he still put up decent numbers. Across 61 games with L.A., he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals, with shooting splits of .437/.335/.848.
After his Los Angeles stint flamed out with a lackluster playoff performance in the team's six-game elimination to Phoenix that spring, Schröder wound up signing with the Boston Celtics on a $5.9 million mid-level deal. Boston traded the point guard to the Houston Rockets later in the season, immediately improving its locker room chemistry and solidifying its defense en route to an eventual 2022 NBA Finals run.
Last year with the Celtics and Rockets, Schroder posted averages of 13.5 points, 4.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds a night, while shooting .431/.344/.853. Though L.A. remains desperate for three-point shooting, Schroder's addition doesn't totally address that. He is hardly elite from deep. In his nine NBA seasons thus far, he is averaging 33.8% on 3.4 attempts from long range, a bit below league average.
More recently, Schröder starred for the German national team in EuroBasket competition this summer. His club was eliminated today by Spain in the semifinal round, though the 6'3" vet posted averages of 26 points and eight boards across his three elimination contests.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN indicates that the 29-year-old had been in discussions with L.A. for a while this summer, and developed a relationship with new Lakers head coach Darvin Ham while playing for the Atlanta Hawks (Ham was then an assistant under Mike Budenholzer).
The move seems to suggest that the Lakers office is insuring the team for an eventual Russell Westbrook deal. Otherwise, the team would be fielding way too many mediocre point guards with this signing.
Currently, the Lakers are now paying four veteran guards who stand at a listed 6'3" or shorter (Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, combo guard Kendrick Nunn, and now Schröder) a combined $68 million. Shooting guards Lonnie Walker IV and Austin Reaves look like the other current backcourt players likely to earn minutes in the rotation. None of these players will be an All-Star in 2022-23. Schröder and Nunn can play at either guard spot in smaller lineups, though the natural position for Westbrook, Beverley and Schröder running the point. It would behoove the team to add more shooting along the wing or at either forward spot in any deal to ship out Westbrook's epic $47.1 million contract.
