A former member of the Los Angeles Lakers has found a new home in free agency.
So far, the Lakers have seen Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond, Ben McLemore and Markieff Morris depart for new franchises; Caruso signed with the Chicago Bulls on a four-year deal while the remaining players agreed to one-year deals.
Now, point guard Dennis Schroder is joining the Boston Celtics, who he was recently linked to as the market began drying up.
Schroder spent one season with the Lakers after arriving from the Oklahoma City Thunder via trade. However, he declined a four-year extension worth $84 million to stay in L.A.
Instead, Schroder sought a contract in the $100-120 range and reportedly was in a state of shock over how his market diminished with teams pursuing different options.
Schroder’s deal with Boston is for one year and worth the $5.9 taxpayer mid-level exemption (MLE), according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Deal will be for the $5.9M exception, per source.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 10, 2021
The soon-to-be 28-year-old guard will likely back up Marcus Smart in a similar sixth-man scoring role he had with the Thunder two seasons ago.
The one-year deal gives Schroder a chance to strengthen his market during next year’s free agency period and attempt to land a better deal.
