Lakers Break Silence on Dennis Schroder Future

Basketball fans didn’t waste any time to slam Lakers guard Dennis Schroder and some of them are worried about his future with the team. The German native turned down the offer Rob Pelinka made in the regular season. Schroder is set to enter the open market and he may be willing to test his chances. He keeps putting the pressure back on the franchise, saying he has “unfinished business.”

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka talked to the media and discussed the team’s future plans. He has nothing but words of praise for the veteran guard. According to him, Schroder is an “attractive player” for the franchise.

“One of the genes in a player that we value so much in terms of a makeup, or DNA or a mentality, is just the competitive nature, and I think all of us can look at Dennis’ body of work, and he is an extreme competitor, and that’s on both sides of the ball,” Pelinka explained in his press conference. “He’s hounding guys, picking up players full court, diving for loose balls. Bringing that energy on the defensive end and then, of course, has the ability to score at the point guard position. We value just those qualities in him.”

Lakers may part ways with Dennis Schroder in the future

Pelinka did leave the door open for changes. Brian Windhorst from ESPN confirmed that Schroder turned down the maximum four-year deal from the team. He didn’t want those $84 million. The Lakers will face competition for their veteran guard in the summer. The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls have shown interest in Schroder.

“August is August and free agency is a couple months away and there’s a lot of different things we’ll have to evaluate there, but Dennis is an attractive player to us just because of what he brings to the table,” Pelinka continued. “And I agree that there are multiple parts and pieces of this team, that there is unfinished business. I think when you fall short of the goal that you set, it has to drive you. It has to be the fuel that drives your passion, and I think us falling short as a team, that in some sense is going to be part of our motivation in putting in the work to getting back at it and starting training camp next year with a strong roster.”

How much will Schroder get in free agency? According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Schroder may get an average annual salary between $22 and $24 million. The Lakers won’t let him go that easily, but they don’t have enough cap space.