1. Dennis Schroder gets the offer he wants from elsewhere
The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly offered Dennis Schroder a four-year, $84 million contract during the season that Schroder declined. That is because Schroder is now reportedly communicating that he is asking for a contract in the $100-120 million range this offseason.
That is simply not worth it for the Los Angeles Lakers. Schroder is not only not good enough to warrant that kind of money but he is not even that great of a fit on the Lakers. He can put up good numbers time and time again but his playstyle as a point guard is less than ideal.
It is unlikely that he is going to get that kind of offer from a team in free agency but you never know. Teams need to hit the salary-cap floor and there are bad teams with a lot of cap space this offseason. Perhaps they bite the bullet on Schroder, hoping to flip him in the future for assets.
It certainly would not be the smartest move for said team, but bad teams are bad for a reason.
This would hurt the Los Angeles Lakers as it completely removes the chance to conduct a sign-and-trade with Schroder. Signing and trading Schroder is really the one way the Lakers would be able to get a third star like Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry. Schroder getting a big payday elsewhere hurts that.
The hope is that Schroder’s market is what it should be while the Lakers can offer him a higher salary, because of the Bird Rights, with the understanding that he will be flipped in a trade.