3. Dennis Schroder
If you looked up the definition of a polarizing basketball player then you would see a picture of Dennis Schroder. It truly does not get more boom-or-bust than Schroder and the opinion on him is practically the same.
Schroder is almost like a less consequential version of Russell Westbrook with a higher ceiling at this point in his career. There are nights where Schroder’s playmaking ability and athleticism carry the Lakers to even be competing in the game.
However, then there are nights where he either throws all of that away with poor play in crunch time, or even worse, caps off a bad night at the office with a poor showing in the fourth quarter in a Lakers’ loss.
There is a reason why Schroder went from being someone who made just under $20 million to being someone that the Lakers could sign for the minimum shortly before the season started. While there are some really good moments with this kind of player there are also some really bad moments as well.
It will be interesting to see what the Lakers do with Schroder considering the other unrestricted free agents on this list. One thing is for certain: Darvin Ham loves the guy and if it was solely up to him then Schroder would probably return next season.