The Los Angeles Lakers are in advanced talks to trade for Oklahoma City point guard Dennis Schröder, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal is reportedly to include the Lakers’ No. 28 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, with Los Angeles guard Danny Green being included as the matching salary.
Green is set to earn $15.3 million next season to Schröder’s $15.5 million, so there may not be much more to the deal once it is finalized besides the pick.
While the trade cannot be consummated until the moratorium on trading ends at noon this Monday, November 16th, it sounds as if we have our first significant deal of free agency lined up, barring any last-minute complications.
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
As LeBron Wire has noted previously, the heavy reliance on star forward Lebron James’ playmaking abilities is a point of concern the team needs to address.
A deal for the Thunder guard ought to go a long way towards solving that particular problem.
Add that James will likely need to coast a bit to start the season given the Lakers played longer than any team in the league this season save the Miami Heat, and the need to reduce LeBron’s load becomes clear.
