Lakers: Dennis Schröder’s shot creating will be key to the team’s success

Dennis Schröder has the ability to create his own shot and set up for others. This will help keep the Lakers’ offense flowing.

Dennis Schröder was the biggest pickup of the offseason, along with Montrezl Harrell, for the Los Angeles Lakers. Being the third scoring option behind Anthony Davis and LeBron James will help the offense in a variety of ways. His game has shown consistency in scoring and that’s what this team needs.

Schröder’s presence brings one thing that the Lakers didn’t have last year. That is a player who can create his own shot and set other guys up. One of the most underrated aspects of basketball is guys who cannot only create for other guys but create for themselves.

Rajon Rondo is a classic example of that. He can create for other guys but he can’t create his own shot because the defense doesn’t respect the consistency. That has been the struggle most of his career that has been masked by having such great vision and awareness.

Schröder is coming off a season where he averaged 18.9 points per game with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coming off the bench he was tasked with running the second-team offense. He did a great job at that and was second in Sixth Man of the Year voting behind his new teammate Harrell.

Schröder also handled the ball late in games when the Thunder would run their deadly three-point guard sets with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul and Schröder. So he is accustomed to this role and can play off the ball or be the main ball-handler. He can switch off with LeBron late in games when the Lakers roll out their closing lineup.

Kyle Kuzma who was projected to take on the role of the third scorer struggled last year with consistency. He was eventually passed by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was instrumental to the team success. Both guys rely on others creating for them.

Kuzma has the ability but seems timid with the ball in his hands and lost confidence last season. So it will be curious to see how he does in a smaller role on offense.

But with Schröder in the fold the Lakers can feel context giving LeBron more rest. He can take longer breaks on the bench and even take some nights off. Schröder will provide this team with a lot more offense than what they received last year.

He and Harrell will be a good 1-2 punch. Just like they were in Sixth Man of the Year voting.