The Los Angeles Lakers revamped their roster last summer and opted to move on from many core players from previous squads: Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Montrezl Harrell and more.
One of those players was Dennis Schroder, who the Lakers acquired via trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Schroder came to be the team’s starting point guard and third option behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but he reportedly turned down an $84 million extension and failed to produce in the playoffs.
The Lakers made their intentions clear they moved on after trading their key assets for Russell Westbrook, but Schroder still wanted to return as a free agent to back up Westbrook, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic:
Rob Pelinka, VP of basketball operations, discarded the remaining core of the title team for Westbrook — leaving almost no escape routes — opted not to counter Chicago’s offer for Alex Caruso and declined to engage with the oft-maligned point guard Dennis Schröder, who, according to league sources, was up for returning to the Lakers as Westbrook’s backup before eventually signing with Boston for the mid-level exception with the Celtics.
