Getty Billy Donovan
If the Chicago Bulls are interested in signing the Los Angeles Lakers’ soon-to-be free-agent point guard Dennis Schroder, their primary competition for his services will likely come from the New York Knicks, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
Lakers May Look to Sign and Trade Schroder
The Lakers offered Schroder a four-year, $84 million deal in March, electing to test free agency in hopes of landing a better offer.
He’ll probably get his wish, but will the 27-year-old get paid by the Bulls? Fischer shared:
League sources expect Chicago and New York to emerge as Schroder suitors, and both could be conducted via sign-and-trade—although Knicks certainly have the cap space to sign him outright. New York will likely have north of $50 million to spend this summer. Meanwhile, Los Angeles continues to gauge rival teams’ interest in Kyle Kuzma, sources told B/R, although Schroder does carry a higher trade value around the NBA.
If Schroder is looking for a contract that pays him upwards of $120 million, as was reported back in June, he might well be too expensive for both the Knicks and Bulls.
It will be interesting to see which team pays Schroder.
Is Schroder the Best Fit for the Bulls?
Schroder didn’t pick the best year to have a so-so season–by his standards.
After averaging just under 19 points per game and shooting 38.5% from three and 47% from the field for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019-20, he dipped in most offensive categories for the Lakers this past season.
Schroder started all 61 games he played for L.A., yet saw his scoring average fall to 15.4 points. Granted, he was sharing the ball with Anthony Davis and LeBron James, which might explain his assists average rising to 5.8 per contest.
Unfortunately, Schroder only converted 33.5% of his threes and just under 44% of his field goals overall. He did get to the line four times per game and he was his traditionally dependable self from the charity stripe with a .848 conversion rate.
Still, you’d think the Bulls may want a more efficient scorer and better outside shooter playing alongside Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
While Schroder may be coming off a down year, he does have a couple of things working in his favor. Schroder played for Donovan for two years while with the Thunder. In fact, Schroder had arguably the best season of his career playing for Donovan in 2019-20. He shot a career-high 38.5% from three that year.
Aside from positive history with Donovan, Schroder does potentially bring an element to the Bulls roster that wasn’t there before, and that’s tough on-ball defense.
Schroder is a bit slight in build at 6’3 172 pounds, but he is long and wiry. He can be a pest on the ball and the Bulls would need that element of his game even more than the scoring potential.
Still, if the price for Schroder goes as high as expected, it’s tough to justify bringing him in as the third member of what would be a modest Bulls Big 3.
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