Getty VP of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers Rob Pelinka.
Dennis Schroder’s tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers has gotten off to a good start. In his two games with the team, he’s averaging 16 points and seven assists. He’s also been able to start both games, which should make him happy.
Schroder’s current contract is set to expire after the season but the Lakers are motivated to keep him around for a few years. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Los Angeles already offered Schroder an extension before the season and are still working on a deal with the veteran guard:
The Los Angeles Lakers have begun engaging with starting point guard Dennis Schroder in contract extension talks, and those discussions are expected to pick up again as soon as mid-February, sources told ESPN.
Before the start of the season, Schroder turned down an initial Lakers offer to extend his contract for an additional two years and $33.4 million, sources said — an overture that represented the maximum allowable offer the Lakers could make to him prior to Feb. 16.
The Lakers didn’t trade for Schroder to have him as a one-year rental. They likely have plans for him that go beyond this season. He seems like a competitive guy so playing for a championship contender has to be appealing to him. It’s hard to imagine the Lakers aren’t able to lock up Schroder at some point.
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Anthony Davis Wants Lakers to Lock up Schroder
For whatever reason, the Lakers have put together a group of guys who have a lot of fun playing basketball together. There doesn’t appear to be a single black sheep on the team. Schroder has gelled well with the Lakers so far and Anthony Davis would like to see him stick around.
“From what I see, he likes it here so far. That’d be great to lock him in for the next couple years,” Davis said Saturday, via Ryan Ward.
Schroder is one of the few guys on the roster who is the same age as Davis (27). If things go well, they could be playing in Los Angeles together for years to come.
LeBron James Praises New Teammates
Schroder and free-agent signee Montrezl Harrell have easily been the most impressive new Lakers this season. Schroder brings the team a lot of athletism and playmaking ability while Harrell has shown off strong rebounding and scoring ability. LeBron James has been impressed with them.
“I am happy as hell to have them,” LeBron said Friday. “Straight up competitors, and they want to win. They want to push each other, they want to push me, push AD and we want to push them as well. I look forward to our dynamic, and our growth on the floor, and continue to grow as the season goes on.”
Harrell and Schroder were always going to be good fits with this team as they play really hard and want to win. The Lakers have filled their roster with guys like that. So far, the early returns have been very good on both guys. If they can stay healthy, this team is much deeper than it was last season.
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