Should Dennis Schröder get the starting job that he desires on the Los Angeles Lakers?
Back in November, newly acquired Los Angeles Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder told the media that he wants and expects to have a starting spot by opening night. It is very likely that he will be granted his wish, but does it make sense for the Lakers to do.
While it is obvious that Schröder is the best point guard that the Lakers have on their roster at the moment, it could make more sense to have him coming off of the bench to offer some scoring while the star players are resting.
Schröder thrived in a bench role last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He would finish top three in the Sixth Man of the Year voting and led the league in bench scoring in the 2019-2020 season.
Despite coming off of the bench, Schröder still averaged 30.8 minutes per game. He would average 18.9 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. These are elite numbers for a player coming off of the bench and if he and Montrezl Harrell were to come off of the bench together, they would be an elite pick and roll duo off of the bench.
If the coaching staff decides to start Schröder at the point, the starting five will likely be Schröder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol. Alex Caruso, Wesley Mathews, Kyle Kuzma, Markief Morris, and Montrezl Harrell would be the second unit coming off of the bench.
This is likely the rotation that the Lakers will be using throughout the year and could be extremely effective for them.
However, the only concern is that it puts too much pressure on the shoulders of Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma still has not proven himself as a third star and someone who really is not capable of even carrying a bench unit on his own on the offensive end.
If we see Kuzma make a big jump offensively this season compared to last season, then this could be the perfect role for Kuzma and the perfect rotation for the Lakers. However, if we see the same Kyle Kuzma that we did last year, it may be in the best interest of the team to have someone like Alex Caruso start at point guard and use Schröder as someone who can carry the bench unit offensively.
While it is more or less set in stone that newly acquired point guard Dennis Schröder will be starting for the Los Angeles Lakers next season, there is a case that could be made that his talents would best be displayed if he were to be the first player off of the bench.
Schröder will be a great player for the Lakers this season no matter where he is on the rotation and he finally is the starting-caliber point guard that the Lakers have been looking for since LeBron joined the team in 2018.
We’ll find out soon if Frank Vogel envisions him to be the team’s starting point guard.