Dennis Schroder Breaks Silence On Leaving Lakers For Raptors

The Los Angeles Lakers won some and lost some early in the early stage of free agency. They were able to keep Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, but lost Dennis Schroder to the Toronto Raptors. The German native grabbed the opportunity and inked a two-year deal worth $26 million. The Lakers front office considered keeping Schroder on the roster, but he took his talents to the Raptors.

In 66 games with the Lakers, Schroder averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. He is happy about the opportunity he was given and there are no bad feelings right now.

“Lakers. I appreciate everything,” Schroder wrote in his Instagram story.

The Raptors will use the German native as a replacement for Fred VanVleet who left the franchise to sign with the Houston Rockets.

LA couldn’t afford both Schroder and Gabe Vincent

The Lakers thought of re-signing Schroder, but spent $33 million to get Vincent.

“The Lakers considered bringing Schroder back but ultimately viewed Vincent as the better player and value, according to team sources” The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported. “Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was one of the internal voices strongly in favor of retaining Schroder, those sources said.”

Schroder signed with Raptors, but wanted to stay with the Lakers

Schroder enjoyed his second stint with the Lakers. He would’ve been happy to spend another season with the Lakers, but the Raptors gave him a deal he couldn’t turn down.

“I know I could have gotten way more money than I have the last two years,” Schroder told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin ahead of free agency. “I’m capable of running a team and helping the organization win games. And I think I have, of course, more worth than a minimum contract or $5.9 million and even bigger numbers than that.

“Whenever the Lakers hopefully come to me and say, ‘Listen, this is what we can do and this is what the situation is and we want to keep you,’ then we’re going to see if they really appreciate what I did. I know, end of the day, it’s a business is what I’m saying, and it’s a lot of factors around it as well.”