The Lakers may be just a month removed from winning the NBA championship over the Miami Heat, but as the offseason arrives they are not resting on their laurels.
There have been numerous reports of the Lakers being at least somewhat active in trade talks, gauging the market for players like Kyle Kuzma as they look to find ways to upgrade their roster for their chase for a second title. On Sunday morning, we learned that L.A. is in “advanced talks” on a deal that would send Sixth Man of the Year candidate Dennis Schröder of the Thunder to the Lakers in exchange for the No. 28 pick in the draft and Danny Green, per reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Lakers are engaged in active talks on a deal to acquire Oklahoma City’s Dennis Schröder, which would send No. 28 pick in Draft to the Thunder, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 15, 2020
Lakers guard Danny Green and the No. 28 overall pick have been a focus of the trade discussions for Schroder, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/KOAcjyIked
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Schroder-to-the-Lakers is well on course to be completed on Monday, sources tell ESPN. Rival teams in pursuit of the OKC guard have started moving onto new targets. The Lakers will land an impactful, versatile guard in pursuit of the franchise's title defense. https://t.co/KOAcjyIked
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Not long after initial reports emerged, Charania confirmed a deal had been agreed to in principle (with it not being able to be official until Monday).
Lakers and Thunder have agreement in principle on deal to send Dennis Schroder to Los Angeles, and No. 28 pick in Wednesday's Draft to OKC, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 15, 2020
Schröder had a career year in 2019-20, averaging 18.9 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game on his best shooting efficiency of his career, hitting 46.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range. If you believe in that uptick in shooting, then he’s a highly valuable player capable of bringing some floor spacing as well as much needed ball-handling to the Lakers offense, as well as being a very active defensive pest in the mold of Rajon Rondo — when he was drafted by the Hawks his nickname was Baby Rondo. He also became a very good off-ball player for OKC last year, often playing in three-guard lineups with Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meaning he’d be comfortable sharing the floor with other L.A. guards and also ceding responsibilities to LeBron when called for. If the shooting holds, it’s a good move for L.A., while carrying the risk of Schröder’s shooting from last year being an abberation and them having moved one of their better (theoretical) shooters in Green for another poor floor-spacer. It’s a risk, but one worth going for because of what else he can bring them.
For the Thunder, they sell high on a breakout player and acquire another first round pick while moving off of a big salary that they’d have a very interesting decision to make about next summer — one would expect them to look to find a deal to send Danny Green elsewhere, either before the season or at the trade deadline.
