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Dennis Schroder Will Make $15 Million Less With the Celtics Than What He Would Have With the Lakers in 2021-22 and Deserves No Sympathy Whatsoever

Dennis Schroder is a lot of things, not the least of which is a player from a small market. Maybe that’s why, when he spurned the Lakers in free agency to sign with the Thunder, most of the basketball world was disappointed, not sympathetic.

The Atlanta Hawks have fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after a disappointing season. But while Budenholzer will no longer coach the team, he will still make $12.5 million over the next two years. So why is this a problem?

For the past couple of seasons, the Atlanta Hawks have been one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA. They have made the playoffs each year, even when they have had a team full of young, inexperienced players. Last season, the Hawks made the playoffs with a group of players who were rookies and sophomores and, despite the fact that none of them were drafted, the team was able to outperform expectations and finish with a winning record and the third seed in the Eastern Conference. This season, the Hawks are once again one of the most exciting young teams in the NBA and are one of the favorites to win the East. And the reason why they are on the upswing? The Hawks have a star point guard in Dennis Schro. Read more about lakers 2021 and let us know what you think.

The urge to explore the waters of NBA free agency may be a risky proposition, and Dennis Schroder paid the price. Despite not quite fitting in with LeBron James and Anthony Davis during his one season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Schroder was given a sizable sum to remain in Hollywood for the next four years – $84 million to be precise. And he declined. When free agency started last week, he watched as guard after guard, none of whom were him, received large sums of money. The Boston Celtics have finally given Schroder a new club to play for, but his salary in 2021-22 will be much less than he had hoped for. And no one should have any sympathy for him.

The Los Angeles Lakers offered Dennis Schroder a four-year, $84 million contract deal, but he declined.

Schroder was traded to the Lakers in the abbreviated offseason after a fantastic 2019-20 season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which he averaged 18.9 points per game and finished second in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting to Montrezl Harrell. This gave him the opportunity to be a full-time starter for the first time since the 2017-18 season with the Atlanta Hawks.

Expected to be a facilitator alongside LeBron James as well as a floor-spacing shooter, the German native had a good regular season, averaging 15.4 points and 5.8 assists, but declined in many areas, most notably his shooting, from the previous season. His 3-point percentage dropped from 38.5 percent to 33.5 percent, while his field goal percentage dropped from 46.9% to 43.7 percent.

The Lakers’ first-round playoff defeat to the Phoenix Suns made matters worse. While Schroder averaged 14.3 points per game, he only had 2.8 assists per game and shot a woeful 40% from the field and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. In the Lakers’ crucial Game 5 defeat, he scored zero points while shooting 0-for-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from outside the arc.

It’s worth noting that Schroder turned down the four-year, $84 million deal months before his dreadful playoff performance. However, it seemed as though the Lakers were still willing to bring him back, albeit at a much lesser salary, but that was thrown out the window when Russell Westbrook was acquired. Then things got a whole lot worse.

The Boston Celtics have signed him to a one-year, $5.9 million contract.

According to ESPN, free agency guard Dennis Schroder has agreed to a one-year contract with the Boston Celtics.

August 10, 2021 — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)

When the NBA free agency season started on August 2, there wasn’t quite as much interest in Schroder as many anticipated. As other guards across the league inked big contracts during the week, Schroder was left out in the cold, reportedly leaving him in “shock.”

Schroder has found a new home with the Boston Celtics, as he signed to a one-year contract with the Lakers’ longstanding foe on Tuesday for the midlevel exception of $5.9 million. According to reports, Schroder wanted the entire $9.5 million exception and a second-year player option, but the Celtics didn’t want to be forced to go over the salary limit.

The issue now is whether Schroder will be the starting quarterback in Boston. And make no mistake: he wants to get started. But I don’t think he’ll win the job over Marcus Smart, who many consider the Celtics’ real heart and soul. Schroder is a stronger offensive player, but Smart is a far better defender, and with so much offense in the starting lineup, Schroder might be viewed as the second team’s spark when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need a rest.

Will there be an issue in Beantown if he doesn’t start? Will Schroder, who doesn’t seem to mind expressing his thoughts, speak out if he becomes irritated in a backup role? It’s simply another issue he might have avoided if he had taken the Lakers’ offer in the spring.

Nobody should have any sympathy for Schroder.

Dennis Schroder during a Lakers-Pelicans matchup in March 2021 Dennis Schroder during a March 2021 game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans | Getty Images/Sean Gardner

I’m sure there are some people out there who feel terrible for Dennis Schroder right now. And if you’re one of those individuals, you should simply stop doing it right now since he has no one else to blame except himself. Look, I understand his thinking process, and I admire him for taking such a risk on himself.

But I’ll never feel sorry for someone who declined a $21 million yearly paycheck to play a game. That’s like telling me to feel sorry for Latrell Sprewell when he rejected down $21 million because it wasn’t enough to support his family back in the day.

And, to be honest, how could Schroder (or his agent) ever think he’d make more than $21 million a season? That is, after all, the same amount of money that Fred VanVleet received from the Toronto Raptors last season. Schroder, on the other hand, wouldn’t be nearly as valuable to any club as VanVleet is to the Raptors, and he’s nothing like as terrific a player on either side of the ball. I understand that NBA wages are exaggerated these days (see Alex Caruso’s $37 million contract), but Schroder isn’t worth $21 million a year, and he knows it.

Looking back, it seems like the Lakers only offered that kind of money a few months ago because they didn’t think they had any other alternatives. And, considering the acquisitions they’ve made this offseason, I’m sure they’re overjoyed that he didn’t accept.

And it’s not like Schroder is going to starve. He’s still being paid millions of dollars to play basketball, and in a year’s time, he’ll be in line for a far larger payout. He also just finished a season in which he earned $16 million. So, once again, I’m not going to feel sorry for him anytime soon. He learnt an important and costly lesson, and it is unlikely that he would repeat the same error.

Basketball Reference provided the stats, while Spotrac provided the contract information.

RELATED: The Celtics, Surprisingly, Are Responsible for Russell Westbrook’s Success with the Lakers

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