The Los Angeles Lakers were initially assumed to be much more active in the buyout market compared to the trade market, as many did not expect them to include most of their higher-paid players that either helped them win a championship last year or were signed just prior to the season. The Lakers, again, proved everyone wrong in this sense, as they came very close to trading Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dennis Schröder, and Talen Horton-Tucker for the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry.
Dennis Schröder definitely came as a bit of a surprise, as he has met what would assumedly be the Lakers’ expectations for him this season, if not exceeding them. It also came as a surprise as there have been reports from before the season as well as during this season that the Lakers and Schröder were working on an extension. Well, it sounds as if those talks will continue in the offseason now as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that Schröder declined the max extension that the Lakers could have offered him.
Here’s what Windhorst said on the most recent episode of his “The Hoop Collective” podcast:
“The maximum he can sign for is 4 years and $84 million if he totally maxes out what he’s able to do on an extension…what I’ve been told, and this rumor is pretty widely out there so I doubt this is very surprising, is that the Lakers did indeed offer him that $84 million over 4 years. Now, this is where we get into a gray area – was it guaranteed, was it partially guaranteed, were there incentives, I don’t know – but I believe he was offered a contract in that realm and he said “no” to it.”
Windhorst notes that the 4-year, $84 million contract extension would be a similar situation to what the Raptors and Fred Van Vleet saw themselves in before he signed a 4-year, $85 million contract extension.
The deal that Schröder declined would have paid him around $21 million per season, a value that seems to back up previous reports that said the two sides were far apart on a deal with Schröder wanting more than $20 million per season.
The two sides can still get a contract extension done in the offseason (as well as during the rest of this season), but the fact that Schröder declined the max that the Lakers could give him does not make it seem promising that the two sides could agree on a number in the future.
Schröder will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason if an extension isn’t agreed upon.
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