Dennis Schröder is not one to hold back what he’s thinking.
He once offered the blunt assessment of Dwight Howard, his former teammate, that the center only tried hard against his former team. He raised a few eyebrows when he first was traded to the Lakers and said he expected a starting role: “I did this off the bench stuff already in two years with OKC.”
So it’s at least a little credible when Schröder says he wants to be a Laker for a long time. If he was unhappy, you’d be hearing about it.
“When something is not going the right way, I’m going to say it – in a respectful way,” he said Thursday. “But I’m straightforward too, so everything really is just perfect here so far.”
It would be hard to expect a better outcome so far for the Lakers’ offseason trade for Schröder. The 27-year-old German has been a dynamic spark on both ends of the floor, and even though his averages (14.8 ppg, 31.6 3-point percentage) are down from his Oklahoma City campaign last season, it’s hard to argue with the results: In games where LeBron James and Schröder play without Anthony Davis, the Lakers are 12-2. The Lakers went 0-4 when Schröder and Davis were out.
While Schröder has also been open about the challenges of finding chemistry without practices, there are definitive signs that the fit is becoming more and more snug. On Schröder’s last basket of his 22-point outing against Charlotte, James came over to screen and release Schröder into open space against a helplessly pursuing Terry Rozier. When Schröder is going downhill, few can catch him.
“Obviously it’s tough to make up for the absence of Anthony Davis,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “But when you have a guy like Dennis Schröder, someone who can really compete on both sides of the ball, he’s been vital since he’s come back.”
If Schröder loves being a Laker, and the Lakers have been winning with him, why hasn’t a long-term deal been done?
Schröder is extension-eligible since last month, and the Lakers have interest in locking him up for the long term. His off-the-dribble game has been essential for the offense, he can guard on the ball and pressure, and perhaps most importantly, he’s about the same age as Davis (28). Schröder, too, sees that future: “I want to be a part of this organization for a long time. So, we really don’t have to worry about anything.”
The Lakers were willing to part with Danny Green and a first-round pick in part because they believed they would re-sign Schröder to a long-term extension. But it just hasn’t happened yet, and at least part of that seems to be because Schröder has interest in going through the process of free agency despite talking about how much he wants to keep playing with the Lakers. Schröder implied that the Lakers have already offered an extension that he could sign now.
“In eight years, I didn’t feel one time where I had to, you know, can sit down in the summer and just see the options,” he said. “So, we’re kind of, between these: Should we just sign the extension? Or should we wait until the summer? Because at the end of the day, I want to be a Laker for a long time. I always say I want it to be fair.”
ESPN recently reported that the Lakers might have to pay more than $20 million a year to keep Schröder. A reasonable marker might be the recent contract of Raptors’ point guard Fred VanVleet, who just signed a four-year, $85 million extension. There’s a case that Schröder is not as good a player as VanVleet, but the Lakers are limited by their salary cap, which is facing a crunch from new contracts for James, Davis, Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (nearly $91 million next season alone). The most value they can get at point guard is to re-sign Schröder (which they can go over the cap to do), which adds to his negotiating leverage.
That will inevitably thrust the Lakers in to the luxury tax: The more you spend over the mark, the more you add on. ESPN speculated recently that the Lakers’ tax bill, if they retain all of their players who are free agents and options next year, could be as high as $100 million – a lot of quiche even for one of the NBA’s most valuable franchises.
But to Schröder, there seems to be a lot more at play than just the money. He said he’s liked his dealings with the coaches, the staff and specifically general manager Rob Pelinka. He’s appreciated the way the Lakers have treated his family and friends, and his wife and kids recently bought a house in the area. As much as anything, the team chemistry – even in a season when the pandemic has restricted what players can do together – seems to be a positive for him.
“Even during these hard times we’re going through right now, to still be able to get together as a team – and I never had that somewhere where we grab dinner, where we’re doing just stuff with the team,” he said. “And that’s really impressive, and we got … two of the top stars in this league, and I didn’t know it was going down like this.”
Extending the negotiating process to the offseason has risks for both sides. Schröder could get hurt or underperform in the playoffs and hurt his bottom line. On the other hand, if he’s integral to a second championship, the Lakers could find themselves shelling out even more – especially if a player like Kyle Lowry, another championship-level point guard, is extended before free agency and never hits the market. But even if that’s an expensive problem, a dynasty is usually worth the cost.
The best sign for Schröder and the Lakers is that the uncertainty of his future hasn’t diminished his play. Averaging 16.7 points, 6.7 assists and shooting better than 36% from 3-point range in March so far, there are continuing signs that Schröder is actually gaining steam with the Lakers rather than let the pressure of extension talks seep into his game.
“I think he’s handled it great,” James said. “We as his teammates have got no sense of that he’s been dealing with that. So, he’s been playing, coming to work and playing great basketball in spite of having to deal with extension talks and things of that nature. That’s for his side, his agent and the front office, all of them to figure out. Us as his teammates, we just support him on the floor.”
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