Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder wants to explore his options in the upcoming offseason as he reportedly turned down a four-year, $84 million extension with the team, per Bleacher Report.
The German national is already playing in the last season of his four-year, $70 million contract signed with the Atlanta Hawks back in the 2017-18 season. He is earning $15.5 million in salary with the Lakers this season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the coming offseason.
By not agreeing to the extension offered by the team, Schroder is setting himself up to land more lucrative deals elsewhere when he tests the waters in the market. Nothing is certainly set in stone as of the moment but he can bump his value by performing well for the Lakers and showing his worth in the league this season.
Schroder is currently averaging 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists through 43 games for the Purple and Gold. The Athletic‘s Jovan Buha and Bill Oram reported that the veteran guard was included by the Lakers in a potential trade package to acquire Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry which didn't come to fruition.
The Lakers are currently in a tight spot in terms of their finances as they already locked both LeBron James and Anthony Davis to max contracts. Kyle Kuzma is also set to earn a guaranteed $13 million salary for each of the next two seasons while no other Lakers players are signed to a guaranteed contract beyond the 2021-22 season.
It remains to be seen whether or not Dennis Schroder's gamble will pay off but it was indicative of his confidence in his abilities to reject such a big deal.