1. Dennis Schroder is familiar with the Lakers and playing with LeBron James
Playing with LeBron James is unlike playing with anyone else in the NBA, especially for a point guard. James is one of the best facilitators in NBA history and while he is listed as a forward, he essentially takes the reigns of being the team’s point guard.
A point guard needs to take a step back and play more off the ball if he is going to succeed with LeBron. That is one of the big reasons why Russell Westbrook and LeBron just don’t make a lot of sense together. Westbrook needs the ball a lot and any time the team is giving him the ball over LeBron they are much more inefficient.
While it was not great at times, Schroder is at least comfortable playing in this situation with LeBron James and understands what it takes to be successful next to him. He did not always do it at times last season but just having that baseline knowledge gives him a head start over other potential point guard options for the Lakers.
He also has some chemistry with Anthony Davis as well. While they did not play together a ton last season because of injury, having that experience in playing with AD and knowing what he needs to be his best is great for a point guard to have.
The one thing that the Lakers have not had a lot of over the last three years with all of the roster turnover is familiarity and on-court chemistry. Schroder provides at least some of that.