You know, sometimes in life things don’t ever quite work out just the way we think they will. Take the Dennis Schroder situation with the Los Angeles Lakers as an example. While there is no doubt in my mind that he is a very talented player that can help various NBA teams in need, you have to wonder just how many of them are going to reach out to him.
Had he been willing to play ball in terms of money, perhaps he would be on a new team right at this moment and also serving as one of the major backbones of a team. Of course, that is not the case and we all know that he was not at his best last year.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that the Lakers did not give him what he wanted because we have seen several players get the contract they wanted and then watch as their careers plummeted.
Some of the many that come to mind are players such as Vin Baker with the Seattle Supersonics, Darius Miles with the Portland Trail Blazers, Brandon Roy also with Portland, Elton Brand with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Rashard Lewis with the Orlando Magic. All of these players signed huge contracts and all of their careers declined.
MUST-READ: 3 free agents the Los Angeles Lakers will regret not signing
Now, I am not trying to say that Schroder would have fit into this category but because of the season he had last year, there is a possibility things could have gone that way. It would have been an absolute disaster for the Lakers as they would have had to shell out major money for someone that is just not worth it.
Dennis Schroder is said to be asking somewhere in the amount of $25 million. To be quite fair and honest, he is not worth that much. I feel that after last season, many other teams feel the same way and see him as more of a player worth a lot less.
That being said, I really don’t think he is going to find a team that is going to meet his asking price and if they do, it would be quite a risk. This of course could work out for Schroder though. If a team does decide to sign him and I am sure one will, the price could be quite less which would be a good thing for him because then he would have a chance to excel and show the league that he is worth the money he wants to get. It will give him the time to improve his game and his attitude as well.
Schroder clearly was not ready for the opportunity he was given with the Los Angeles Lakers.
While there were times where he played well, the bad outweighed the good. You have to give a lot of credit to Rob Pelinka, and Jeanie Buss for not paying him what he wanted.
A lesson that can be learned from this incident for not just basketball players but for all other people as well is that, before you balk at what you are offered, you should really make sure that you are worth what you are asking for.
Even though this is a time when we do see many players that are getting insane amounts of money from teams, there are always going to be players similar to Schroder who will not get what they want. A lot of those other players do not have it as good as he did because he was on a team that despite getting bit horribly by the injury bug, had a very good chance of advancing farther into the playoffs.
Of course, we will have to see how this plays itself out, but there is no doubt that so far, Dennis Schroder did not get what he wanted. I guess we shall all have to watch and see what happens next with him.