Dennis Schroder was expected to be the third star for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 2019-20 season, he played very well, even coming 2nd in the Sixth Man Of The Year Race behind Montrezl Harrell, who also joined him in LA. But the move never worked out, and Schroder left at the end of the season.
Schroder famously rejected an $84 million contract from the Los Angeles Lakers in the middle of the season, thinking that he could earn more with his performance in the season. He would end up regretting rejecting the contract, joining players like Victor Oladipo and Latrell Sprewell on this list.
But Schroder eventually found a team, joining the Boston Celtics, signing a one-year $5.9 million contract with them. Schroder returned to the Staples Center last night with the Celtics, and actually had a decent showing. But despite this, the Celtics lost to the Lakers.
Schroder recently opened up about his time in LA and spoke about why things never worked out for him there. He noted that while LeBron James and Anthony Davis are great players, he didn’t fit well with them. And that played a big part in him not immediately signing a new contract with them.
He also spoke about why he feels a lot better with the Celtics. He feels like he has the support of the franchise, something he did not have with the Lakers and spoke about the ambitions he has with the Celtics this season.
“To play with AD and LeBron. It was an honor to play with them and see every single day how they work and how they do things on the court, off the court, it’s just a blessing. It’s the reason I’m grateful that I’ve seen it but for me, personally, it wasn’t the right fit.”
“That’s the reason I was hesitating a little bit. The way I played is not how Dennis played over his whole career in the NBA so that’s the reason I was like, ‘Okay, I have to see how it’s going next.’ That’s the reason why I even didn’t talk to the organization and said, ‘Listen, we can talk about (the contract) after the season. I want to concentrate during the season to finish it.’ Now, in the situation I’m in, I think I’m 100 percent comfortable so far. You feel the appreciation, you feel the organization is trying to help you, your family, your friends or whatever. It’s been great so far. I mean, this is all I wanted and I think we can accomplish something big here.”
Schroder did struggle in LA, putting up some of the lowest averages of his career. Schroder averaged 15.4 points in LA, the lowest of his career since 2016. But Dennis has proven to be a valuable commodity, especially coming off the bench for the Celtics, averaging 17.5 points.
Clearly, Schroder couldn’t become the player the Lakers expected him to. And it cost him greatly. But he seems to be recovering his career right now and is doing well with the Celtics. He couldn’t become the star that they needed him to, but perhaps he can do that with the Celtics.
