Getty Dennis Schroder of the Boston Celtics.
Dennis Schroder’s contract situation continues to be a discussion point among NBA insiders, analysts, and fans. Everybody has their own take on the likelihood hood he remains with the Boston Celtics beyond this season.
In his latest piece for The Athletic, front office insider John Hollinger lists Schroder among next summer’s top free agents and laments the Celtic’s chances of retaining the speedy gunslinger. “The Celtics don’t have Bird rights on Schröder and don’t have cap space, so their best legal offer tops out at $7.06 million for next season. It’s not a shock; this was always destined to be a one-year marriage of convenience,” Hollinger explains during his article.
It’s worth noting that at the time of writing, Hollinger lists Schroder at 19th in his list of free agents, residing in the fourth tier, which the insider eloquently labels “The best of the rest.”
Schroder has been a breath of fresh air for a Celtics team that needed additional ball-handling and scoring off the bench. At the same time, he’s also admirably deputized for some of the team’s more established stars when injuries have caused some lineup rotations. However, Schroder is clearly playing for a future contract after struggling to find a team willing to pay after he reportedly turned down an $84 million contract extension from the Los Angeles Lakers during the summer.
Celtics Insider Recently Reported ‘Mutual Interest’
In a recent radio appearance on The Adam Jones Show, Celtics insider Brian Robb mentioned that both Schroder and the Celtics share a mutual interest in the guard remaining on the roster beyond this season.
However, as things currently stand, the Celtics are unable to offer Schroder market value during the upcoming off-season, as Hollinger noted above. So, the path to keeping the impressive guard beyond this season is a tough one, littered with questions that can’t be answered so early into the season.
“It will be interesting to see how the Celtics handle that because they’re limited in how much they can offer and stuff like that because they would need to free up some money. I think this is a pretty big audition for him this year, not just around the league, but also here in Boston,” Robb said during his radio appearance.
One thing’s for sure; if Schroder continues his current level of play throughout the season, he’s going to price himself out of the Celtics price range. Of course, for Schroder, this year was always about rebuilding his value around the league and judging by his performances throughout the opening quarter of the season, he’s doing just that.
NBA Insider Believes Schroder’s Fighting to Stay in the League
On a recent episode of The Garden Report, NBA Insider Jeff Goodman took a different stance on Schroder’s current contract situation, claiming that the 9-year veteran will struggle to stay in the league if he doesn’t buy into his bench role the Celtics this season.
“But the big thing from talking to enough people who played with him and coached him—moody, selfish, not a great teammate. That is gonna be the key for Dennis Schroder now. Coming off the bench, do you buy into that? He’s pretty much got no choice. If his agent has done his job, he’s told Dennis Schroder, like, this is gonna be it for you. If you buy in and you’re really good in Boston, you’re gonna get another big-time deal. If not, you’re gonna struggle to stay in this league,” Goodman said when discussing Schroder’s position on the Celtics and within the NBA as a whole.
What we have here is three different takes on Schroder’s future, from him remaining in Boston beyond this season to him possibly falling out of the NBA completely. With such a broad spectrum of opinions, it’s almost certain that one of these insiders will be proven correct at the end of the season, but none of that helps the Celtics in the short term.
Following the team’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, November 26th, the team now sits back at .500 again, following two games with poor offensive execution. Schroder and the Celtics will look to get back on track on Sunday, November 28th, when they face off against the Toronto Raptors, in what’s another opportunity for Schroder to continue rebuilding his value around the NBA.