Dennis Schroder has had a fall from grace like few others have had over the last few years. He had initially made a name for himself with the Atlanta Hawks before going on to finish runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019-20.
His performances for OKC impressed the Lakers, who traded for him and Schroder had a good start with his new team in 2020. It was good enough that the Lakers reportedly offered him a 4-year, $84 million contract during the season, but he rejected it in the hope of landing a more lucrative deal in the offseason.
What followed, however, were some poor showings in the playoffs and he suddenly found himself in a situation where no one was willing to offer him anywhere close to the kind of money that the Lakers were offering earlier. He had to settle for a one-year, $5.9 million deal with the Celtics last year and the team shipped him off to Houston during the season. The Rockets had no interest in retaining him after the season either and Schroder remains unsigned this deep into the free agency period.
Marc Stein Says Dennis Schroder Will Almost Certainly Be Signed By A Team By The End Of This Month
It was a bit surprising that he remained on the market for this long, but it showed just how far his stock had fallen in the league in just 2 years. With his future in the NBA up in the air, Schroder headed over to EuroBasket with Germany and that might have ended up being a masterstroke.
Quite a bold step for Dennis Schroder to play in this @EuroBasket without an NBA contract in hand … but there's a rising buzz in league circles about his job prospects. Schroder will almost certainly have a new team by month's end after helping host Germany make the semifinals.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 13, 2022
He has led the way for the Germans by averaging 20.2 points per game and scored 26 points to eliminate the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Greeks in the quarters. He seems to have guaranteed himself a roster spot in the NBA in the process and is also now just two wins away from leading Germany to their second gold medal at EuroBasket.
It has been a pleasantly surprising turn of events for Schroder and hopefully, he can make the most of this opportunity that he is about to get. A return to the Lakers is very much on the cards even after they traded for Patrick Beverley, and he can certainly provide them with a much-needed spark off the bench. If he excels with them next season, then who knows, he might finally get a very good deal in 2023.
