With the Los Angeles Lakers' early ouster from the NBA playoffs, discussions have quickly shifted to their plans in the offseason. One major decision they have to make revolves around free agent guard Dennis Schroder.
The Lakers had high hopes for the point guard. Schroder was a consistent 20-point scorer the year prior, reaching career highs in both field goal and three-point percentage with the Oklahoma City Thunder playing off of Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Most imagined he'd be able to replicate that, if not exceed it further, in Los Angeles as the third guy behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
But things didn't exactly go according to plan. Right from the get go and all throughout the season, Schroder was rumored to have rubbed some members of the Lakers organization the wrong way.
Via ESPN's Ramona Shelburne:
“But the relationship started off awkwardly with Schroder stating publicly he expected to start even though he'd had success off the bench with the Oklahoma City Thunder and finished as runner-up in Sixth Man of the Year voting last year. And it got worse with each long-term contract extension he turned down.
The Lakers acceded to his request to start, and continued negotiating with his representatives on a rich contract extension. But his play on the court frustrated some in the organization, according to sources. By the trade deadline, L.A. was including him in trade discussions for Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry.”
While these assumptions indeed fall under hearsay at this point, it's hard to imagine there isn't some actual truth to the whispers. After all, usually when there's smoke, there's fire. The Lakers have plenty of decisions to make this offseason in order to get LeBron James another shot at a title run. Figuring out what to do with Dennis Schroder becomes critical as James enters Year 19.
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