The Los Angeles Lakers employees, coaches, and players will slowly start descending upon Staples Center this week. Camp work is set to start as early as tomorrow, as the new Lakers players will practice with the team for the first time. This includes Montrezl Harrell, who has been seen at the practice facility already on his Instagram, as well as Dennis Schröder who talked with the media pretty much in the middle of his workout on the court today.
As Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll notes, Schröder decided to kick things off with some unprovoked statements. These statements included the fact that Schröder will be the starter for the Lakers this season, as his agent and the Lakers have already discussed this according to the man himself.
Schröder said he hasn't talked to Frank Vogel about his role yet, but he said that his agent talked to the Lakers' brass before the trade and "that's that."
— Christian Rivas (@RadRivas) November 30, 2020
“I did this off the bench stuff already for two years with OKC. I think I will try to move forward, and I think with AD and LeBron, I can be helpful as a starter at the PG position so that LeBron don’t have so much stuff in his mind.”
With Dennis Schröder in Frank Vogel’s starting lineup, the rest of the first five would include LeBron James and Anthony Davis, in addition to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the team’s starting center (in my humble opinion this will be Marc Gasol). This takes Wesley Matthews out of the equation, which might be a surprise to him after starting for the Milwaukee Bucks, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.
Also, as Schröder states, his most positive impact on the Lakers will probably just come from taking some work out of LeBron James’ hands as an overall playmaker. Some would argue (I would) that this would mean that you’d want Dennis Schröder on the floor when LeBron’s not on the floor. That definitely doesn’t mean starting him with LeBron ultimately guaranteeing yourself that they won’t play much without each other, if at all in the first half.
We’ll see if this is true once the preseason and regular-season starts, but if Dennis Schröder is putting it out there that way then it’s probably true. Be on the lookout for Frank Vogel to be asked this question in his first media availability.
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