The Los Angeles Lakers had an abundance of point guards throughout the 2022-23 campaign. Dennis Schroder was one of the featured guards in Darvin Ham’s rotation, as the Lakers coach valued his scoring and on-ball defense as a smaller, scrappy guard.
Heading into free agency, it wasn’t clear exactly what Schroder’s market would be, what type of contract he would be up for and if the Lakers had any interest in bringing him back. It appeared as though his free agency with the Lakers was dependent upon their other moves.
Schroder himself discussed this on the morning of free agency, wondering what the Lakers would offer him and if they appreciated what he did for them last season. The Lakers seemed to have other options higher on their wishlist though, and Schroder has his fare share of suitors across the league as well.
It seems as though Schroder has made his choice, as he has agreed to a two-year, $26 million contract with the Toronto Raptors, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Free agent G Dennis Schroder has agreed to a two-year, $26M deal with the Toronto Raptors, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023
This signing ends Schroder’s second single-year stint with the team. And despite a successful tenure, the NBA is a business and it appears it was time for both sides to move forward without one another.
The Lakers signaled their desire to move on when they used most of their mid-level exception on another free agent point guard in Gabe Vincent, formerly of the Miami Heat.
In his second go-around with the Lakers, Schroder averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 assists per game on 41.5% from the field and 32.9% from three. He played in 66 of the team’s 82 games and was a starter in 50 of them.
He started three of the Lakers 16 postseason games, and while he didn’t make as big an impact in the box score, he was vital in the team’s wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.
Lakers also sign Prince, Hachimura and Reddish in free agency
The first day of free agency was a busy one for the Lakers as in addition to signing Vincent, they also landed former Minnesota Timberwolves wing Taurean Prince on a one-year contract, Cam Reddish on a two-year contract while also re-signing Rui Hachimura to a three-year deal.
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