The future of Dennis Schroder with the Los Angeles Lakers is currently up in the air as the franchise enters the offseason. Schroder is an unrestricted free agent and the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension during the season as he was intent on experiencing free agency for the first time in his career.
There have been reports about Schroder’s play being frustrating to some within the organization, but none of that ever seemed to show with his teammates. The likes of Anthony Davis and LeBron James always seemed to have a good relationship with Schroder and that was on display in a recent vlog post from the point guard himself.
While working out at the Lakers practice facility, Schroder was interrupted by Davis coming in and the two caught up about what they had been doing in the offseason so far, via Schroder’s YouTube Page:
While the two don’t discuss Schroder’s impending free agency, Davis did say that his injured groin feels much better and the time off helped him out immensely. Davis also noted that he’s been working out every day during the offseason but plans to take a couple of vacations as well and is also expecting the birth of his child soon.
Injuries were obviously the story of the Lakers season with Davis’ groin issue in the playoffs particularly being the one the team couldn’t overcome. But the franchise believes they put together a championship-caliber roster and have expressed a desire to bring the core of the team back next season to see if they can finish the job.
Schroder obviously would be a big part of that equation, and he has said that he wants to return to the franchise as well, but he also wants to be paid like a top point guard and is expected to have some suitors in the open market. Regardless, it is good to see multiple Lakers players already putting in work to come back better next season.
Schroder seeking at least $100 million contract
Vice President of the German Basketball Federation Armin Andres recently revealed the type of deal Schroder is expecting in free agency this summer and it isn’t cheap. According to Andres, Schroder has communicated that he wants a deal in the $100-120 million range.
While that seems like a steep price for Schroder, especially considering his playoff struggles this season, he is likely to receive offers in that range from different teams. Whether the Lakers are willing to go that high to keep him remains to be seen, but the team won’t have salary cap space to replace him even if he does leave so that could very well force their hand.
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