The Lakers are on the verge of making a mega mistake. After missing an opportunity to turn Alex Caruso into a trading chip, it looks like the Lakers are going to make the same mistake by letting Dennis Schroder walk.
While Rob Pelinka has done a great job finding shooters after trading for Russell Westbrook, he has put the Lakers at risk of being handcuffed by a lack of viable trading chips at the midseason deadline and next summer. With Talen Horton-Tucker’s $10 million and Kendrick Nunn’s $5 contracts as their only trading chips greater then the minimum salary, the Lakers desperately need to convert Dennis Schroder into a viable trading chip.
If they allow Schroder to walk for nothing like Caruso, the Lakers will only have THT’s and Nunn’s plus eight minimum salary contracts to use to make a trade to upgrade the roster or fill a roster hole at the midseason deadline. Since Horton-Tucker and Nunn are keepers, the Lakers will essentially enter the trade deadline and next summer with no ability to make a major trade unless they’re able to transform Dennis Schroder into a viable trading chip.
It’s probably too late to do anytbing at this point about allowing Caruso to walk without even getting a trade exception back but that’s a mistake the Lakers just cannot make with Schroder regardless of the luxury taxes. Schroder would give the Lakers the viable trading chip they need at the deadline. They could trade him to another team to fill a major need or trade him into another team’s cap space to avoid paying the luxury taxes.
The Lakers’ $189 million in projected luxury taxes for next season now just ranks 6th in the league behind the Warriors’ $362 million leads, Nets’ $306 million, Clippers’ $300 million, Bucks $200 million, and Jazz’ $192 million. With the NBA headed towards an explosion of teams willing to pay luxury taxes, the Lakers need to rethink how much they were willing to pay to build a championship roster because the bar has now been officially raised.
Imagine the difference between the Lakers having a $10 million tradeable contract or trade exception from re-signing or trade-and-signing Dennis Schroder versus having to trade THT or Nunn to improve the roster.
It still appears as though the Caruso transaction has not been submitted to the league yet and is not official. I’m hoping this means the Lakers are working in the background to get a trade exception for at least $4 to $5 million. Being able bring in a player making that much would give the Lakers another better than minimum player who would be a perfect trading chip to maybe pair with a couple of minimum players to fill a need or upgrade a position. At any rate, the trade has not been formally announced so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Same with the Schroder situation. If Dennis’ head is still in a good place, I wouldn’t mind giving him a $10 million contract as our back up point guard. It’s really his best role and he would keep his Bird rights, which is critical for a player trying to remake himself after a disappointing season. In the end, is there a better place for Dennis to redeem his brand than the Lakers? We need a backup point guard. Dennis needs his Bird rights and redemption. And he would give us a nice $10 million trading chip at the deadline to go with Caruso’s $4-5 million. We would have two assets to trade where we otherwise might have nothing.
Did you hear he signed with Chicago after he heard we were trying to trade he and Gasol to Minnesota. Rob’s grade has dropped to a C- for me, only good thing is the Russ trade and the Nunn signing. Kudos to Caruso for taking his career by the reigns and walking away from the Rob Pelinka dumpster fire. AC would have never agreed to go to the dook show that is Minnesota, he’s not a money-grubbing dope like Dennis and just wants to win which is why he fit in so well here. This has gotten pretty embarrassing outside of the quality vet minimums and Nunn signing.
Lakers are definitely pinching pennies (insert mongoslade “remember………” post here again) and it’s going to backfire. This is not win now mode, this is “win now if it doesn’t cost too too much and we don’t have to overpay like those billionaires are gonna do and we can show everyone we’re not like New Jersey!” mode. Russ: good trade. After that? Nothing to crow about. Coming around to the realHTJ’s opinion that this bunch of geriatrics won’t get past the 2nd round on defensive issue alone.
Dennis has 3 choices and not a single one is straight re-signing here to back Russ up. You think LeBron or AD wants a “not all in on this team” guy on the roster like a Dennis? Nope. The bridge has been burned, willfully and stupidly and the Lakers aren’t reaching back across. Hard for me to see the Lakers adding anything more than another vet min deal at this point. They’re pinching pennies and betting Frank can re-create Bubble Magic. This defense won’t be anywhere near as effective as that one. I think the road will be rough if Dwight wants that parade. So, while I don’t see Dennis landing here I don’t see a long list of S&T options. Mainly the question comes down to who wants a backup level who makes demands and has outlandish expectations. There’s. Reason why Reggie Jackson is so thankful he’s making $11 mil the next 2 years. At any rate both parties need to help one another and find livable middle ground. I think the real issue facing the Lakers is that if money is all Dennis wants he can find it overseas and hole to find warmer free agent waters next summer.
FWIW the 3 choices are stay in the NBA for a lot less money, stay in the NBA for less role, play overseas and get decent to good money and probably the role he wants…but in Turkey or wherever.
The Celtics are said not to want to be hard capped. So he is looking at the mini mid level there. Might find a little more money if he doesn’t mind coming off the bench somewhere but I’m thinking not more then 10 mil at this point. I would also be surprised to see him back.
If his head were in the right place, I’d give him $11 million to backup Russ.
We DO need a backup point guard and he’s worth more than $11 million.
And he bould be the perfect trading chip at the deadline or we dump him to avoid the tax.
And Dennis keeps his Brid Rights.
Tom, while I mostly agree with the opinions of everyone on this topic, I think your idea of bringing back Dennis as a backup point guard stood out to me the most. I believe Rob and Dennis’s agents are working out something behind closed doors. But your take on Dennis should be given high consideration if it were for me. Dennis as a backup point guard is a win-win situation for both parties and a good way for Dennis to redeem himself. There is no better place to do that better than in L.A. and I am pretty confident something palatable to both parties could be used. As for Dennis, this might
resemble a case where the beggar can’t choose.
It’s a shame too if he had just played nice, I wouldn’t mind having him as a back up. It’s not a crime to over value yourself but the chatter is that his people were not even in touch with the Lakers while everything was coming down. That’s stupid and disrespectful. Perhaps the Lakers could have worked out something for him before it was too late if he had just cooperated.
Yeah, it appears it’s too late but he wants to keep his Bird Rights and the mini-MLE would be humbling.
I’m hoping we work something out where he comes back for a fair price with the understanding he comes off the bench and we’ll try to find the right place for him before the deadline.
$11 million, just $1 million over the full MLE should be a fair price. We DO need a backup point guard. Maybe Dennis is ready to take that role again?