It seems all but certain that the Los Angeles Lakers will acquire Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder in a trade that includes the Lakers’ 28th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday. It was a move that would bolster the defending champions’ backcourt and was a pre-emptive move should point guard Rajon Rondo depart in free agency.
But before the Lakers landed on Schroder, they actually tried trading for another guard in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Eric Bledsoe, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.
The Lakers had explored a deal for Milwaukee’s Eric Bledsoe, league sources told @SInow. A Schroder trade would remove that from consideration. If completed, Lakers would be armed with a young, versatile guard coming off his most complete NBA season.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) November 15, 2020
Mannix noted that a deal that sends Schroder to the Lakers would put an end to a deal involving the Bucks shipping Bledsoe to Los Angeles.
The 30-year old Bledsoe is coming off his second full season in Milwaukee, which finished with the best record in the NBA before losing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Miami Heat. In 61 games for the Bucks, Bledsoe averaged 14.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, while shooting 47.5% from the field and 34.4% from beyond the arc.
Schroder, as Mannix noted, is coming off his most complete season. Playing mostly off the bench in his second season with the Thunder, the 27-year old German averaged 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and four assists, while shooting 46.9% from the field and 38.5% from downtown, which are both career-best numbers.
While the impending arrival of Schroder is certainly a welcome development for the Lakers, it would have also been interesting to see how Bledsoe, a member of the All-Defensive Team in the last two seasons, would have fit in the Lakers alongside All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
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