Rockets & Lakers Ex Dennis Schroder: Why Hasn't Anybody Signed Him?
We are now into August and Dennis Schroder, who performed last year for the Houston Rockets and at one time was the starting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, remains on the NBA free agency shelf.
Why?
Schroder was an important member of the Lakers in 2021 as he averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists per game that year as the starting point guard. He's hit other highs in his career, including in 2018, when he averaged 19.4 points and 6.2 assists per game for the Atlanta Hawks at age 24. Oh, and in 2020, he was a top-performing sixth man when he averaged 18.9 points and 4.0 assists per game off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The native German now only 28, and of course most recently he was with the Boston Celtics and then the Rockets last season and averaged 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest.
He's bounced around a lot, from the Hawks to Oklahoma City to the Lakers to the Celtics and to the Houston Rockets over his career. Maybe that's a blemish. And he's only 6-1, so he's not a big body. But he can run an offense, he has experience and he can score.
And yet there he sits.
At this late point in free agency, he's not going to make big money - but his deal a year ago was just one-year and $5.9 million in Boston ...
Of course, that came after his goof with the Lakers, as he turned down his max four-years and $84 million extension thinking there'd be a bigger pot at the end of the rainbow.
So is he waiting it out for another rainbow? For just the right scenario? Is there a locker-room chemistry problem, as has been rumored?
If we list the most credentialed players still on the street, few are more accomplished than Dennis Schroder. And we wonder who's idea it is that he's still on that street.
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