After the top three free agent point guards (Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Conley) signed, the next tier of point guards figured to be in for lucrative paydays from those that missed out on one of the veteran All-Stars on the market. Dennis Schröder is in that group, and after turning down a 4-year, $84 million extension from the Lakers last season, many were curious if he did enough to build his value to get an offer bigger than that in free agency.
Schröder had a solid, yet unspectacular first season with the Lakers, averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on 43.7/33.5/84.8 shooting splits that were more akin to what he produced in Atlanta rather than in his breakout season with the Thunder in 2019-20. His defense remains a plus (when on a good team and he’s engaged), so his value in free agency was likely going to come down to whether there was a team (or teams) that believed he could regain the shooting efficiency from OKC with them.
On Tuesday, we learned that Schröder would be headed to the Boston Celtics on a one-year deal that will pay him just under $6 million.
Free agent G Dennis Schroder has agreed to a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 10, 2021
Deal will be for the $5.9M exception, per source.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 10, 2021
Boston had popped up in recent days as a potential landing spot for Schröder. The team could use someone who can give them solid point guard minutes after they traded Kemba Walker, and while he might not be a long-term answer, Schröder presents a solid option to line up alongside Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum. Conversely, this gives Schröder a chance to go play for a team on a one-year deal and show that he deserves to get a longer deal next summer.
