Former all-stars the Los Angeles Lakers could sign: DeMar DeRozan
Sorry to any DeMar DeRozan fans out there but I am not a huge fan of his game. DeRozan just does not play a winning style of basketball in 2021 as he is not a good three-point shooter and is not a great defender. Sure, he can hit mid-range jumpers with the best of them, but that trait is not as valuable as it was 20 years ago.
That being said, DeRozan is still a big enough name to get a decent-sized contract and this would be another case of the Lakers agreeing to a sign-and-trade with Dennis Schroder and flipping him for a better asset.
The Spurs are not a team that is going to help the Lakers and this trade would only happen if the Spurs win the trade and it honestly would not be all that surprising if the Lakers do a desperation move and trade more than they should for DeRozan.
Depending on how the rest of the offseason goes, it is absolutely conceivable for the Lakers to trade Schroder, Kuzma and the 22nd overall pick in this year’s draft for DeRozan. DeRozan would have to make around $30 million for this to work and it would not be a good trade but the Lakers could be desperate to make an upgrade and pull it off.
Is DeRozan an upgrade from Schroder? Yes, but I am not sure if him being the third-best player on this team is necessarily a good thing. This is a plan D type of move for the Lakers but I would not completely rule it out.