Los Angeles Lakers: Does Dennis Schroder deserve a long-term contract?

Dennis Schroder’s strengths:

Like much of Schroder’s game, there’s no middle ground in his hustle—he’s a tornado for when he’s on the floor. From the moment the German point guard enters the game, he goes hard, the quintessential 100 percent player.

Most folks don’t consider a player’s motor a talent, but it is; that’s why only a few athletes redline it throughout every contest. Few players have the type of fifth gear engine Schroder has, and his energy has been infectious, pushing his teammates to play harder on defense.

Dennis Schroder’s one of the fastest players in the association; he sits inside the top-30 in the NBA (minimum 20 MPG to weed out the guys who come in for ten minutes per game and blast up and down the court until they’re winded) in average defensive speed of 4.10 MPH.

Every NBA fan has heard the adage, “you can’t teach height,” but you also can’t teach speed. Dennis Schroder’s pace on defense has bothered many of his point guard assignments throughout the season, and at times he’s been a driving force in the Lakers’ top-rated defense.

Dennis Schroder has a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. He’s like Dennis Rodman or Ron Artest; you love him when he’s on your team and hate him when he’s not. Schroder takes things personally. If an opposing point guard is an offensive stud, he wants to shut him down.

As LeBron goes, so do the Lakers, but we’ve seen Schroder’s attitude help pull his teammates up at different times this season when their energy has waned.