Offseason moves are already starting to kick off and the Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly swung a big deal as they look to defend their 2020 NBA championship. The Lakers are said to have agreed to a trade, sending Danny Green and their 2020 first-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Dennis Schroder.
With the returns of Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope seemingly in doubt, and Avery Bradley still mulling a decision with his player option, the Lakers were in need of an upgrade to the backcourt, and Schroder provides that.
But he isn’t the only point guard they were looking at dealing for. According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Lakers also explored a trade for Eric Bledsoe, who at the time was still with the Milwaukee Bucks:
The Lakers had explored a deal for Milwaukee’s Eric Bledsoe, league sources told @SInow. A Schroder trade would remove that from consideration. If completed, Lakers would be armed with a young, versatile guard coming off his most complete NBA season.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) November 15, 2020
Bledsoe would have been a very interesting, albeit different, addition to the team than Schroder. Bledsoe would have undoubtedly helped the Lakers’ perimeter defense as that is his forte, while being a solid playmaker with a lot of playoff experience.
However, Schroder’s offensive game is more of what the Lakers need as he is a much better shooter, knocking down 38.5% of his three-pointers last season. Schroder also showed how effective he is playing off the ball and is a capable playmaker as well.
The caveat to that is Schroder being a much bigger defensive liability than Bledsoe. It nonetheless can be surmised the Lakers got the better fit to their team in Schroder who is capable of starting and coming off the bench.
Coincidentally, L.A. has been linked to Bledsoe’s Milwaukee teammate Wesley Matthews as a replacement for Green as a 3-and-D wing.
Lakers to present Anthony Davis with multiple options
No matter what else the Lakers do this offseason the most important is re-signing Anthony Davis. The Lakers ideally would love for Davis to agree to a five-year max contract, but that may not be the case.
As such, the team reportedly will present Davis and his representatives multiple contract options to choose from in order to best appease him. Many other stars now look to sign shorter contracts and maintain flexibility.
Davis will be in line for an even bigger deal once he reaches 10 years in the league, which will happen after the 2022 season.
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