The Los Angeles Lakers currently have 14 players on the roster with a lot of potential movement happening in the coming weeks. With a Kyrie Irving trade officially off the table, Los Angeles no longer has to wait around and can instead try and make other moves happen.
One potential move that the team is considering is a free-agent signing. The Lakers are reportedly considering bringing Dennis Schroder back after he left the team last summer. This would not be the first time that Rob Pelinka brought back a former Laker so it cannot be ruled out.
While there are some intriguing parts of Schroder’s game that would fit nicely on this Lakers team, at this point in time with everything going on, he does not seem like a great fit. Not only are there other things for the Lakers to figure out first, but there is a young player who deserves this final roster spot more than Schroder does.
If it comes down to it, the Lakers should give Cole Swider a roster spot over Dennis Schroder.
Cole Swider simply adds more to the Los Angeles Lakers than Dennis Schroder would. Los Angeles needs shooting and does not really have a traditional backup four outside of Wenyen Gabriel. Swider has already proven that he is a sharpshooter and he should be ready to contribute NBA minutes right away at 23 years old.
If Russell Westbrook is not traded then it makes no sense to bring Schroder in over Swider. Schroder would be redundant and would not even get much playing time behind Russell Westbrook.
The only way that makes sense is if Schroder is a contingency option if the Lakers just tell Westbrook to go home and not play, which is possible. But at that rate, the team might as well pony up and offer as many picks as it takes to trade him before the season begins.
There is also a better point guard that the Lakers are interested in. Patrick Beverley has been connected to the Lakers and while it would take trading Talen Horton-Tucker to get him, Beverley would add far more with his defensive presence than Schroder would.
The two guards are pretty similar shooters with Beverley being the far better defender. That is more important to the Lakers with how the roster is currently constructed.
There is no point in bringing in Schroder if the team brings in Beverley. Let’s say the Lakers trade Westbrook and picks for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner and then flip Talen Horton-Tucker and Wenyen Gabriel (to make the money work) for Patrick Beverley.
What makes more sense in that instance, using the final roster spot for another point guard when you have Austin Reaves and Kendrick Nunn on the bench or using that final roster spot to replace the forward you just traded away in Gabriel while also adding shooting?
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If the Lakers can find a way to get Cole Swider and Dennis Schroder on the roster and not have it be redundant then great, sign me up. If not, Swider should get that roster spot way before Schroder should.