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After a busy opening to free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers have slowed down the roster building. However, they still have major needs all over the roster. The lack of moves in recent weeks could be due to the fact that the team is scouring the trade market. With trade options limited, the team will eventually have to turn back to free agency.
Depending on what the Lakers do with Russell Westbrook, they could have a major need at point guard. Unless Kyrie Irving gets traded to Los Angeles, the team’s point guard situation doesn’t look great. There aren’t great options in free agency but there’s a familiar face available.
Dennis Schroder was supposed to be a long-term option at point guard for the Lakers until he disappointed in his first season with the team. He turned down a four-year, $84 million offer from Los Angeles, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, and it’s hard to see a scenario where he sees another offer like that going forward.
That said, he could be valuable to the Lakers on a minimum deal. He’s a good defensive player and can score. He’s still sitting in free agency and made a very interesting comment to LeBron James. The Lakers star commented and an Instagram post from Schroder. The guard replied that he “might gotta run it back.”
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Schroder’s Time With Lakers Hurt Value
Schroder was not a terrible player during his season with the Lakers. He averaged 15.4 points a game and helped get the team to the playoffs with LeBron and Anthony Davis missing chunks of the season due to injury. However, his reputation tanked when he put together a very poor playoff performance against the Phoenix Suns. When the Lakers needed him most in Game 5, he scored zero points.
Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney spoke to a Western Conference executive who believes that Schroder is unfairly maligned for his Lakers season.
“His reputation has taken such a hit in the last couple of years and really, it is not his fault,” the executive told Deveney. “He just is what he is, a good scorer, not a great ball-sharer, but a good enough point guard to give you some valuable minutes and have you come out better off than without him. It’s crazy that he can’t get any kind of deal. His time with the Lakers hurt him because the contract thing got turned sideways and he gets the cheap deal with the Celtics, and he was fine for them, they were just better off with Derrick White in there. But there is still a view that he held back the Lakers and Celtics, which is silly.”
Schroder Has Played Behind Westbrook Before
If the Lakers keep Westbrook, Schroder might make more sense as a signing. He played behind the former MVP when they were both in Oklahoma City during the 2018-2019 season. He averaged 15.5 points a game coming off the bench.
Schroder could also make sense backing up Irving if he comes to Los Angeles. He’s a stronger defender than the seven-time All-Star. Schroder has become a joke to much of the Lakers fan base but it would be a smart move to bring him in on a veteran’s minimum contract.
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