Lakers News: Schroder Turns Down Extension Offer, Wants Fair Deal, Report Says

The Los Angeles Lakers are making sure that key pieces remain with the organization moving forward. Without question, one of those is Dennis Schroder. The purple and gold did try to work something out with the German player but was turned down, a report says.

The Lakers offered a two-year, $33.4 million deal to the 27-year-old playmaker before the 2020-21 NBA season started, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported, citing unnamed sources. However, this hardly shows what lies ahead for both sides.

The issue here is the money being offered. Schroder is open to sticking around and even called the Lakers a “hell of an organization.” He claimed that he was comfortable with the Lakers even though Schroder has been there for about a month. The 6-foot-1 guard is open to an extension as long as the deal is fair for both sides.

This fair and better deal could happen by Feb. 16. By that time, the Lakers can offer a much better package worth roughly $83 million for four years on top of his current one. It remains to be seen if that would be enough to convince the 27-year-old guard to stay.

In the event that the Lakers fail to get anything done with Schroder, Los Angeles has Bird Rights on the German to go over the salary cap. If they fail to secure him, they will end up with limited options to replace him. The Lakers only have the $9.5 million mid-level exception that they can use in free agency next summer.

It is seen as an expensive way to keep Schroder, although he is proving to be worth the investment. He had an impressive debut against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks, starting on both occasions.

Against the Clippers, he finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes of action. He followed that up with an 18-point performance together with 6 assists and 2 rebounds in 25 minutes against Dallas in his first regular season as a Laker.

Schroder is undoubtedly a big addition, and players like Anthony Davis were backing up contract extension talks. The 27-year-old explained how Schroder was able to adapt to them and has shown a willingness to learn.

“From what I’ve seen, he likes it here so far and it’d be great to lock him in for the next couple of years,” Davis stated.