Scout’s take: Dennis Schröder eyes starting point guard spot with Lakers
LOS ANGELES -- Already in town working at the team’s facility, Los Angeles Lakers new addition Dennis Schröder took time away from his workout to talk with reporters on Monday.
Schröder, who finished second in the Sixth man of the Year award voting last season, said he won’t be seeking to win that distinction this year.
The 27-year-old said he was informed by his representation before the trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder that the Lakers are looking at him as the team’s starting point guard this season. The Lakers have not confirmed that move.
Of course, that’s interesting because LeBron James essentially served as the starting point guard and main facilitator of the team’s offense last season.
“I did this off-the-bench stuff already two years with OKC,” Schröder said. “I think I will try to move forward. And I think with AD (Anthony Davis) and LeBron, I can be helpful this year as a starter in the PG position, and LeBron won’t have so much stuff in his mind.
“I can bring it up, call a set play or whatever, and put him in a position to score. I think for him to play off the ball, I think it’s great. And I think that’s the reason they brought me in. I think we’re going to fit perfectly.”
If Schröder were to start, the starting five could look something like this for the Lakers: Schröder at PG, Kentavis Caldwell-Pope at SG, James at SF, Davis at PF and Marc Gasol at C.
Certainly, at the start of the season when the expectation is James will play less minutes, it could make sense to start Schröder as a way to give the Lakers energy at the start of the game and get him more comfortable with how L.A. plays.
With that in mind, I talked with Michael Vandegarde, who served as an NBA scout for 18 with the Philadelphia 76ers. Vandegarde runs a scouting service focusing on high school players available for NBA teams.
He’s also involved with CoachTube.com, a platform that brings clinics and instruction to athletes, trainers and coaches virtually. “It’s basically a platform to learn the game, any game,” Vandegarde said. “We’ve got big-time stuff. We’ve got NBA coaches on there. We’ve got Urban Meyer, Tom Izzo and the biggest college coaches in the business. We’ve got high school coaches. We’ve got Lincoln Riley sharing his offensive philosophies.”
Vandegarde believes Schröder is an upgrade over Rajon Rando, who left the Lakers to join the Atlanta Hawks for a better contract in free agency, inking a two-year $15 million deal.
Vandegarde: “Schröder is definitely better over the course of the season. Everybody likes to talk about “Playoff Rondo.” He’s been good in big games, and he’s been a factor multiple times in big games. And we don’t know that about Schröder. So that’s the biggest question mark: can Schröder do it in the biggest moments?
“But with that said, the biggest moments are going to be reserved for LeBron and AD anyways. So, he’s definitely a better shooter. He’s definitely a better scorer. I think he’s a comparable defender. So I think that’s an upgrade, so I would be excited.
“Now, you might get into the playoffs and be playing somebody in a make-or-break game, and he turns it over once or twice and you’re like, F---, we should have kept Rondo. And that might be true, but you’re not going to know that until it happens. And at that point everything should be going through LeBron and AD, so he really becomes a spot-up shooter and defender at that point. So, I love that move.”
Schröder is 27, compared to 34-year-old Rondo. He has one year remaining on his deal that will pay him $15.5 million for the upcoming season. It’s possible the Lakers sign him to a long-term deal that keeps him with the team for the foreseeable future.
Schröder said the Lakers helped he, his wife and his two kids make a quick transition from Germany to Los Angeles, but he’s still in the process of finding a permanent home in L.A. Schröder said fans in his native country of Germany were ecstatic once they learned the news of him becoming a Laker.
“In Germany, everybody went crazy when they saw the news to play for this organization,” Schröder said. “Like I said, it’s an honor. And it’s the biggest platform for an NBA team. So, for me and Germany, it’s not getting bigger than that. Everybody’s excited. And everybody knows I’m competing for something big. And everybody is cheering for me.”
