The Los Angeles Lakers are in a financial bind in the offseason trying to resign Alex Caruso, Montrezl Harrell and navigating a possible poison pill contract on Talen Horton-Tucker. With Dennis Schroder turning down reportedly two Lakers extension offers, it might be time to move in another direction and let Dennis Schroder walk in the offseason.
What are the options for the Los Angeles Lakers? Lake Show Life has a few options.
The Los Angeles Lakers had Dennis Schroder in their long-term plans and tried their due diligence to sign him. Both times he declined. Now based on Schroder’s level of play since LeBron got injured, the question for the offseason is…Will there be a third offer or should there be one?
After the Lakers close loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday, they are in the middle of a painfully slow descension down the Western Conference standings, losing seven of their last eleven games going into their matchup against the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night.
As the Lakers fall down the rankings, Dennis Schroder’s level of play has also regressed. This week it bottomed out.
Against the Miami Heat, he had one of his worst shooting performances this season going 2-12. Sure he had 13 assists, but his 7 turnovers was giftwrapping points for the Heat offense.
Against the Toronto Raptors, he was remembered for Montrezl Harrell coming to his defense more than his point guard play.
The Lakers and Raptors had to be separated after a physical play between Dennis Schröder and OG Anunoby.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 7, 2021
Anunoby and Montrezl Harrell were ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/hBNxjGyWWv
But his performance against the Clippers on Easter Sunday was the tipping point. After reports Dennis Schroder turned down an $84 million extension and hearing Jrue Holiday signed a 4 year deal with the potential earnings of $160 million, the Lakers point guard played terrible in an embarrassing Lakers loss last Easter Sunday.
- Los Angeles Lakers: 4 lessons from Easter Sunday Clippers beatdown
- Los Angeles Lakers get blown out on Easter Sunday by the Clippers
These reported negotiations (Based on who you trust!) are more complicated for this team than just signing a player or trading assets for a big splash (Kyle Lowry). Rob Pelinka is in the middle of a huge transition project here.
- He has to finish cleaning up the mistakes of Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss. (Remember the Luol Deng signing in 2016? His $5 million salary is still on the books!).
- He has to construct a championship contending squad on a budget (Well he did it last year!).
- After signing key players in the offseason (LeBron, AD, KCP and Kuzma), the second wave of players (Montrezl Harrell, Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso and beg Andre Drummond to take a $5.9 million one year exception!) have to be dealt with.
- Despite all of this, the Los Angeles Lakers have a $100 million luxury tax bill.
Something has to give here. If the negotiations are at an impasse and Schroder’s production continues to drop, Lake Show Life thinks the team should move on from Dennis Schroder.
Now there are people that follow my work (By the way, I’m humbled and thank you!) know all of these issues were foreshadowed by this writer the day Danny Green was shipped out to OKC to bring Schroder in. To them they may see this a bash session. Trust me it’s not.
By the end of this article, not only will the reader see it’s not a bash session, it will help the Los Angeles Lakers for the rest of the decade.
Let’s go in depth on what the Lakers and Dennis Schroder will be facing this offseason.
The Los Angeles Lakers have done enough throughout the negotiations with Dennis Schroder!
There were red flags immediately shown soon after the Lakers acquired Dennis Schroder for Danny Green and a 1st round pick last offseason. Not about the deal (Amazingly the team saved money on their salary cap!) but the desires Schroder took to the media.
- First, he made it clear that he wanted to be the starting point guard.
- Then he stated even though he wanted to be a Laker for a while, he wanted a fair deal.
Lake Show Life is well aware that the NBA is a business. Most of our free agent features break down what the team is facing with potential signings, current or future. But isn’t kind of strange a player comes to a championship team making demands? At any rate, it seems that before this rough patch, the Los Angeles Lakers made Dennis Schroder their priority.
Check out the timeline that goes back to three days AFTER the season started!
Christmas Day:
First on Christmas Day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a “Woj Bomb” on the first level of contract negotiations between the Lakers and Dennis Schroder.
"The Los Angeles Lakers have begun engaging with starting point guard Dennis Schroder in contract extension talks, and those discussions are expected to pick up again as soon as mid-February, sources tell ESPN. Before the start of the season, Schroder turned down an initial Lakers offer to extend his contract for an additional two-years and $33.4 million, sources said — an overture that represented the maximum allowable offer the Lakers could make him prior to February 16."
Then ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Schroder turned down an $84 million extension on his Hoop Collective podcast.
"The most that Schroder can extend for under his current contract is four years, $84 million. What I have been told is the Lakers did indeed offer him that $84 million over four years … and he said no. He said no to that extension. And subsequently the Lakers offered him in trade for Kyle Lowry."
No one on the Lake Show Life staff bought the fact that Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was going anywhere for reasons laid out before the trade deadline.
There were many in Lakers Nation that were upset that Rob Pelinka did not make a deal for Kyle Lowry. For numerous reasons, this was the right decision.
But check out Adrian Wojnarowski’s insight on what the Lakers have to deal with to make Schroder a part of their long term future on the Woj Pod…
"“The Lakers are interesting because I think the Lakers are looking a little bit down the road too at their salary structure,” “Dennis Schroder, they’ve got to pay him this offseason. It’s going to cost well over $20 million a year to keep him.” “I do think they would like to free up some of that money they owe down the line to put themselves in position to keep the guys they have there. I think that’s kind of at the center of some of their talks here around the trade deadline.”"
Schroder is in a contract year and it’s clear he wants to bet on himself and test his value in free agency. Plus he reportedly not closed the door on a possible return to the Lakers.
But let’s assume the front office CAN’T come to terms and make a deal. Lake Show Life has come up with options for the Los Angeles Lakers and what could be done as “backup plans” in case Schroder does not return.
Let’s take a look at three plans the Lakers should have in place in the event that Dennis Schroder does not stay in L.A. this offseason.
Did anyone forget that LeBron James is the Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard?
There’s this rumor the Los Angeles Lakers have this real good player with quite a resume. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time. Sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer.
- He’s a four time regular season and NBA Finals MVP.
- Four-time champion.
- Been to the NBA Finals ten times.
- Fun fact: He led the NBA in assists last year!
- He has 18 years experience too.
Did LeBron James die? Didn’t see it in the news! While James has always been in the NBA program as a small-forward throughout his career, LeBron James has always been the point guard and facilitator. Not only has he dominated scoring the basketball (Third in NBA history!), but LeBron is one of the best passers in NBA history (Currently eighth and climbing!).
Last season, the Lakers did quite well without Dennis Schroder by “officially” making LeBron the point guard. Has anything really changed with him having the ball in his hands almost every possession this year? Even though Schroder is considered the team’s starting “point guard”, so was Avery Bradley, Mario Chalmers, DeLonte West, Boobie Gibson, Kyrie Irving and others. But Lakers fans aren’t stupid. Let’s break out the biggest argument.
The team won a championship with James at point guard last year and with or without Schroder, they will once again be in contention for a championship when he returns.
Losing Schroder should be considered an opportunity and not a detriment. Letting Schroder walk gives the Lakers financial flexibility to not only pursue high-level players to put next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis in pursuit of more championships, but lower tier veterans to easily fill out the roster and relieve pressure on the financial books.
Who are those players that the Lakers can sign on the “Balling On a Budget” plan? Read on to see the list that most fans may be happy with.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been known to find the same amount of talent at the mere fraction of the price!
Let’s assume Dennis Schroder signs somewhere else in free agency. Now what? The Lakers have to try and find ways to replicate his production. However Rob Pelinka and the front office have other challenges to deal with whether Dennis was a option or not.
Stop and listen to the potential challenges of the Lakers resigning players Bobby Marks discussed after the Andre Drummond signing about two weeks ago.
The Lakers can use the $20 million that they were going to pay Schroder annually to sign one OR a combination of these players that are a lot less expensive long-term.
Patty Mills:
The San Antonio Spurs are going to blow up that squad and go young after the season. LaMarcus Aldridge is already gone with DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay (Notice the list is getting larger right?) and most the veterans will follow him out the door.
Patty Mills will be a great replacement (DeRozan will get a bigger paycheck!) for Dennis Schroder.
Mills signed with the San Antonio Spurs back in 2012 and he has been a staple in Gregg Popovich’s rotation ever since. LeBron might know what championship production Mills can bring to the team. Patty was one of the strongest contributors off the bench when the Spurs smoked his Miami squad to win the 2014 NBA Championship. Mills is known for his three-point shooting (Career 38.9 percent!) and his leadership qualities, something a player needs to stick with a Spurs team as long as he has.
Patty Mills is at the end of a four year $50 million deal he signed back in 2017. Pelinka and company can easily get him for ten cents on the dollar compared to what Schroder wants.
Lou Williams:
Things worked out so well for Montrezl Harrell and the Lakers last year when the Clippers threw him under the bus for last year’s debacle, why not try again?
Lou Williams was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Rajon Rondo at the trade deadline. Williams was reportedly so blindsided by the deal that he almost retired on the spot.
Lou Williams is coming to the end of his three year, $24 million deal that was a complete bargain. Think about how much the Lakers could save on a player that is a walking bucket coming off the bench with a ton of playoff experience? It’s clear that Sweet Lou will be out of Atlanta by the offseason, so if he loves Los Angeles where he has roots, it helps in negotiations.
Plus bringing Lou could help convince Trezl to opt back into his deal and not test free agency.
Wayne Ellington:
Lake Show Life has covered the options of making deals for Wayne Ellington in the past…
- Los Angeles Lakers: Reasons for and against pursuing Wayne Ellington
- Los Angles Lakers should target Wayne Ellington in free agency
Now it makes perfect sense. One of the top priorities this summer will be cost efficient guys that can shoot and contribute immediately. Wayne Ellington checks the boxes. Ellington shoots career 38 percent from behind the arc. This includes the one season with the Lakers when he shot 37 percent. The Detroit Pistons will let him walk in the offseason and this is the perfect veteran’s minimum example right here.
Bottom line, the Lakers will have plenty of cheaper options in free agency that they could replace the production Schroder leaves behind. Sure Dennis Schroder is a very good player but can be easily be flipped for assets and financial flexibility.
Oh, it gets better. These are just the potential players the team can get in the future. It’s not like the Los Angeles Lakers don’t have players on the roster. Read on and let’s discuss these two!
The Los Angeles Lakers found Talen Horton-Tucker in the NBA Draft. Didn’t they develop Alex Caruso too?
Most championship teams rarely have time to develop young players during their run. The Los Angeles Lakers have developed two players that command minutes in Frank Vogel’s rotation.
The franchise is walking a fine line between the “Win now” philosophy in LeBron’s window and retaining their young talent to build around Anthony Davis in a few years. Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker are the only young players on this roster that teams will theoretically be willing to make a deal for and THT is set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason.
Talen Horton-Tucker:
The Lakers have already showed their hand with their plans for Horton-Tucker. Toronto wanted him included in the Kyle Lowry deal and that was never going to happen. If it did, Lowry probably would be the starting point guard now.
The consequence of that decision is opening up the checkbook to pay him in the offseason. If the “Poison Pill” contract comes into play, it will be a huge bill for a player that many NBA teams covet.
While the Lakers do not have a draft pick in the 2021 NBA Draft (AD trade!), expect to see the Lakers do their homework on some potential late first-round, early second-round guards.
Then pull off a draft night trade to acquire a young prospect in the second-round this year at the expense of cash considerations. It happened two years ago with a young player out of Iowa State.
Get the connection?
Alex Caruso:
Let’s not start with the tired “Alex Caruso is a player that worked his way up the G-League route into the hearts of the Los Angeles Lakers and its fans”.
Alex Caruso is playing for the Los Angeles Lakers because he is a star in his role and he fits the type of player that plays well with LeBron James. He hustles on defense, plays the right way and does the little things needed to make sure the Lakers are successful. Oh by the way, he’s been in the league less than three years.
Now does he need to be locked in a gym this summer shooting 1,500 to 2,000 shots a day? Absolutely. But if his jumper does improve along with some development with Phil Handy, he can easily fill the void of Dennis Schroder.
Plus, fans might need to check the track record of the scouting staff and the continued success of the South Bay Lakers. These are guards. Devontae Cacok is a product of the Lakers farm system and has been productive when he had the chance.
In other words, let the front office and scouting team quarterback this. Be patient.
No matter if Schroder stays or not, the Lakers will have opportunities to add more youthful talent to their roster, which is exactly what they should try to do, especially if it will not cost them much in terms of giving up some cash for a second-round pick (THT’s price!).