Jokes were flying when Dennis Schroder signed a one-year deal for less than $6 million with the Boston Celtics. Schroder reportedly turned down a lucrative offer from the Los Angeles Lakers, worth as much as $84 million in total, before the veteran guard’s market seemingly dried up and he inked the pact with Boston. In mid-September, Schroder was seemingly self-aware in steering into the “fumbled the bag” jokes about his apparent contractual mishap but, on Monday, the 28-year-old was singing a bit of a different tune in saying that he did not, in fact, have that famed $84 million deal “in front of” him to sign.
“The Lakers told us we are not talking during the season, and at the end of the day, I never had that contract in front of me,” Schröder indicated to reporters at Media Day (via Boston.com). “That’s one thing. But they wanted to talk and at the end of the day, me and my agent decided not to sign their contract.”
Of course, this could be semantics about whether the deal was actually placed in front of him, but Schroder’s message didn’t seem to be that willingly turned down a deal of that size. Obviously, there is some potential gray area here and, without first-person knowledge, specifics are sometimes tough to come by. Still, the $84 million reporting has been quite strong throughout, and even if it was something shy of that, the contract Schroder ended up signing was a financial disappointment in comparison.
Fortunately, Schroder has operated under contracts with the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Lakers totaling more than $70 million, and he is set up pretty well. Schroder indicated that “money is not everything at all times” and he cited being “comfortable” in his employment situation.
“For me and my family, I signed a pretty good contract after my fourth year, and my family and myself, we’re going to be good,” Schroder said on Monday. “I’m 28 years old, and I’m still playing in the NBA for a long time.”
It will be interesting to see what kind of contract Schroder can land after this season, but he’ll have every opportunity to prove himself in Boston. The Celtics were able to land him on a bargain contract for what he has been able to produce, and there is a path to success for all parties involved in Boston.
