3. Dennis Schroder
I have the runner-up to the Sixth Man of the Year award placing ahead of the actual winner of the award. Trading for Dennis Schroder might have been the best move that Rob Pelinka has made all offseason.
The Lakers traded one year of Danny Green and the 28th pick for one year of Schroder. This was so fantastic as it was paired with the fact that the Lakers essentially replaced Green with Matthews, which in essence, means they flipped the 28th overall pick for Schroder.
I cannot wait to see Schroder and Harrell dominate other team’s bench units with their scoring output. The pick and rolls between those two are going to be so fun to watch and the Lakers are going to have one of the most athletic bench units in basketball.
This is similar to the bench duo that the Clippers had with Harrell and Lou Williams, except for one distinction. Schroder is not just a better defender than Williams, who is awful defensively, but he is a great defender.
Schroder posted a 1.04 defensive PIPM last season, good enough for 12th among point guards. He has the athleticism to man-up any bench guard in the league, providing good defense both on and off the ball.
Schroder is going to put up 18 and 5 as a member of the Lakers, giving the team that perfect third scoring option in the backcourt that they wanted Danny Green to be last year.