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When the Lakers first got the chance to offer Dennis Schröder an extension, they offered the most they were legally allowed to at the time: two years and $33.4 million. He declined.
In March, when the team was allowed to offer him more, they once again extended the largest contract offer they could: four years and $84 million. He once again declined.
Over the summer, Schröder’s camp let it be known that he was looking for a four-year deal in the $100 to $120 million range. But after Schröder’s playoff flameout, the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook and eliminated most of the leverage Schröder and his camp held over them. Not long after, other teams with cap space used it on point guards ahead of Schröder in the free agent pecking order.
As a result of all those factors and more, Schröder’s market collapsed, and now according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the German-born point guard is signing a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics for the taxpayer mid-level exception:
Deal will be for the $5.9M exception, per source.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 10, 2021
This is not really surprising, and while the Lakers losing Danny Green and a first-round pick for one disappointing season of Schröder is obviously not ideal, that’s in the past. Doubling down on a bad bet just to avoid losing “an asset” is also bad business, and it’s hard to fault the Lakers for deciding to pursue a point guard they felt would be more reliable, rather than pay Schröder what he was asking for just so they wouldn’t “lose” a trade that has already been made. In hindsight, that move was a mistake, albeit a defensible one. All the Lakers can do now is try to make better decisions moving forward.
It obviously would have been ideal for the Lakers to get something for Schröder in a sign-and-trade, but just like Schröder had little leverage to gauge them for a contract, the Lakers had little room to convince Schröder to do them a solid.
But anyway, best of luck to Dennis at his next stop. Hopefully for his sake it goes better for him than his one season in purple and gold.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.