Hamstrung by a $183.5 million payroll for the 2022-23 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been seeking ways to surreptitiously upgrade their roster.
NBA reporter Marc Stein notes that free-agent point guard Dennis Schröder is a “legit consideration” for the Lakers.
Hoops Wire reports that Schröder is also “drawing interest” from the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks.
Schröder spent the 2020-21 campaign with the Lakers, who acquired him from the Oklahoma City Thunder just before this season tipped off. He started all 61 games he appeared in for Los Angeles, averaging 15.4 points and 5.8 assists while shooting 43.7%/33.5%/84.8%. In March 2021, Schröder infamously rejected a four-year, $84 million extension from the Lakers. After his free-agent market failed to develop, he signed a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics.
The 6-foot-1 guard was a part-time starter in Boston before being moved to the Houston Rockets as part of a package for big man Daniel Theis at the trade deadline. Schröder appeared in just 15 more games. He finished the 2021-22 season averaging a combined 13.5 points and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 43.1%/34.4%/85.3%.
The Lakers have minimum flexibility entering Darvin Ham’s first year as head coach after recently extending LeBron James on a two-year, $97.1 million deal. This offseason, they signed Lonnie Walker, Thomas Bryant, Troy Brown, Damian Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson, and they lost guard Malik Monk to the Sacramento Kings in free agency.
The 28-year-old Schröder would join a potential lead-guard rotation that includes Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn, who didn’t play last season due to a knee injury but exercised his $5.3 million player option for 2022-23. Westbrook is a free agent after next season and has been mentioned in trade discussions for Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.
With Brooklyn announcing that Kevin Durant will remain with the franchise, Irving will also likely stay put. This potentially accelerates the Lakers’ drive to add smaller pieces to their roster.
Los Angeles missed the playoffs last season, finishing 11th in the Western Conference at 33-49.
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