Dennis Schröder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Paul, Warriors, LeBron, Schröder, Walker

June 29th, 2023 at 11:10am CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are looking forward to teaming up with longtime rival Chris Paul, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Paul’s ball-dominant style will bring a new look to Golden State’s backcourt, but Curry believes the combination can be successful.

“Every team that CP has been on gets better,” he said. “That’s the most consistent thing about him, and who he is and what he brings to the team. Everybody’s going to talk about the age. It’s on us to put that all together and figure out how all the pieces work.”

Thompson called Paul one of the best players of his generation and speculated that having him on the court should lead to better shots for everyone. He admits it will be “a little weird” to have Paul on his team after battling him in the playoffs for nearly a decade.

“I think he’s just going to add such a calming presence and leadership component that we need,” Thompson added.

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The Warriors have been a popular destination for free agents throughout their run at the top of the league, but their reputation will be tested in this year’s free agency, observes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Golden State’s financial crunch, early playoff exit and the loss of general manager Bob Myers may make veteran players less likely to accept veteran’s minimum contracts to join the team.
LeBron James won’t pressure the Lakers to make any specific signings or trades during free agency, according to Mark Medina of Sportsnaut. Medina adds that despite his retirement talk after the Western Conference Finals, James is fully expected to play next season in the final year of his current contract.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is committed to keeping the roster that finished last season intact, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. L.A. has five free agents and must decide by today whether to guarantee contracts for Mohamed Bamba and Malik Beasley. “Teams are going to be aggressive,” Pelinka said. “There’s a lot of parity in the league right now, and everyone smells an opportunity to chase the championship, but we’re going to try our best to stay in that pack or at the head of that pack.”
The Lakers are hoping to re-sign Dennis Schröder and Lonnie Walker IV, even though they’re both unrestricted and the team doesn’t have full Bird rights on either player, states Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Wolves Notes: Prince, Free Agency, Reid, Miller, Edwards

June 29th, 2023 at 9:39am CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves waived Taurean Prince on Wednesday to avoid guaranteeing his $7,455,000 salary for the upcoming season, but there’s a chance he could be re-signed, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

The decision was purely financial, Krawczynski adds, with president of basketball operations Tim Connelly needing to create some flexibility ahead of looming extensions for Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels. Minnesota may be interested in bringing back Prince at a lower cost, depending on what happens early in free agency, sources tell Krawczynski.

The 29-year-old power forward has been a dependable part of the Wolves’ rotation during his two seasons with the team. He averaged 9.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per night last season, and Krawczynski notes that Minnesota was 7-13 during a 20-game stretch he missed due to an injured shoulder.

The Wolves attempted to trade Prince’s contract before the salary guarantee date, Krawczynski adds. They talked to the Wizards about veteran point guards Monte Morris and Delon Wright, but weren’t able to make any progress toward a deal, sources tell Krawczynski.

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With Prince’s salary off the books, the Wolves are now about $15.5MM under the tax line with four open roster spots. They’ll be able to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception when free agency begins Friday, and Krawczynski identifies a few names they might target. Among them are Eric Gordon, Bruce Brown, Dennis Schröder, Jevon Carter, Max Strus and Donte DiVincenzo, although all will have numerous suitors with similar financial resources.
In a separate story, Krawczynski discusses the implications of Naz Reid‘s new contract with Danny Leroux of The Athletic. The Wolves gave Reid a three-year extension at $42MM to keep him off the free agent market, but it will lead to some difficult decisions moving forward. Leroux points out that the new deals with Edwards and McDaniels, combined with the existing contracts for Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, will be enough to push Minnesota close to the tax line starting in 2024/25.
It appears Connelly is willing to give the Gobert experiment another year or two to succeed while stocking the roster with inexpensive young talent, writes Jim Souhan of The Star Tribune. One of those pieces is second-round pick Leonard Miller, who was acquired from the Spurs in a draft night trade. “I don’t really know what position Leonard is,” Connelly said. “He grew up as a forward, so I think he can — I know he can — guard three positions. Then, offensively, I’ll let coach (Chris) Finch determine where he can best be deployed. What’s neat about the flexibility of our bigs is that while Rudy is a pure (center), we have some other guys who can play both (forward and center). Offensively, we have a bunch of guys that their skill set allows them to do things all over the court than, generally, most bigs can.”
Edwards has signed with WME Sports ahead of his extension talks, the agency announced (via Twitter).
In case you missed it, we took a deep dive into McDaniels’ case for a rookie scale extension.

Lakers Would Have “Strong” Interest In Chris Paul If He’s Waived

June 16th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

If the Suns ultimately decide to waive Chris Paul on or before June 28, when his full $30.8MM salary for the 2023/24 season becomes guaranteed, the Lakers would have “strong” interest in signing the veteran point guard as a free agent, reports Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

The Lakers have been linked to Paul since a report last week stated that he’ll likely be waived unless the Suns find a suitable trade. Buha takes Los Angeles’ interest a step further in his latest report, suggesting that CP3 looks like the team’s top target at point guard in the event that D’Angelo Russell and/or Dennis Schröder aren’t re-signed.

As Buha explains, re-signing both Russell and Schröder is the simplest, cleanest, and perhaps most likely way for the Lakers to address their point guard position this summer. However, if they decide to go in another direction, Paul is a far more realistic option than free agents like Fred VanVleet or Kyrie Irving or potential trade targets like Damian Lillard and Trae Young.

Paul’s family in based in Los Angeles and he has a long-standing friendship with Lakers star LeBron James, Buha writes, pointing out that the two future Hall-of-Famers have envisioned playing together in the past. The 38-year-old would provide the Lakers with the type of “traditional floor general” they’ve lacked in recent years, Buha adds.

Since Paul is owed $15.8MM by the Suns even if he’s waived, Los Angeles could potentially bring him in on a minimum-salary contract or something close to it, creating cap flexibility for other moves. The veteran would also represent a low-risk addition, since his deal likely wouldn’t cover more than one season.

Of course, given that the Suns haven’t yet made a decision on Paul, the Lakers are preparing for other scenarios, starting with re-signing Russell. Team sources tell Buha that one possibility the club has discussed internally is bringing back D-Lo on a front-loaded two-year deal that would put him on the same timeline as James and Anthony Davis. Buha says such a contract could include a second-year option, but an option can’t have a lower cap hit than the prior season, so if they intend to front-load their offer, the Lakers couldn’t go that route.

The Lakers have also discussed the idea of re-signing Russell and adding Paul in free agency, per Buha, who says CP3 would be the favorite to become the starting point guard in that scenario.

Re-signing Schröder and bringing in Paul is considered less likely, since L.A. doesn’t want to lose Russell for nothing and only holds Schröder’s Non-Bird rights, but it’s another possibility. As Buha writes, the team knows Paul and Schröder can coexist, since they thrived together in Oklahoma City in 2019/20. The Lakers may have to dip into their mid-level exception in order to make a competitive offer for Schröder.

And-Ones: Irving, VanVleet, Lakers’ Arena, Jackson, Crawford, Gelfand

June 12th, 2023 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kyrie Irving and Fred VanVleet — who is declining his player option — are the top free agent point guards, John Hollinger of The Athletic opines. According to Hollinger, they’re the only max or near-max point guards on the market. Hollinger rates D’Angelo Russell and Tre Jones as the only other free agent floor leaders worth more than the mid-level exception, with Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schröder warranting a mid-level investment.

We have more from the around the basketball world:

Crypto.com is closing part of its business but it won’t impact its naming rights deal for Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports. AEG, which owns and operates the home arena for the Lakers and Clippers, entered into a 20-year, $700MM naming rights agreement with Singapore-based Crypto.com in November 2021.
ABC and ESPN analyst Mark Jackson deserves another shot at coaching, an unnamed general manager told Marc Berman in a Casino.org story. Jackson, the Warriors’ head coach before going into broadcasting, interviewed for the Bucks’ head coaching job that went to Adrian Griffin. He has also been passed over for a number of other head coaching jobs in recent years. “He needs to be open to be an associate head coach,” the GM said. “If he was on the bench in Memphis or New Orleans, he’d be perfect for Ja Morant or Zion Williamson.’’
The Suns are looking to hire Mavericks assistant Quinton Crawford as an assistant on Frank Vogel‘s staff, Marc Stein of The Stein Line tweets. In another coaching note, the Wizards are close to hiring Pelicans analytics expert Sammy Gelfand.

International Notes: Wembanyama, Darlan, Schröder, Yao

May 25th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama‘s overwhelming popularity is creating a lot of new basketball fans in France, writes Sam Borden of ESPN. Borden notes that it has long been a “niche sport,” far behind soccer in the French sporting landscape, but Wembanyama has been drawing massive crowds, especially as his time in the French league nears its end.

Nearly 16,000 people attended his most recent game in Accor Arena — the largest venue in Paris, which has been hosting Metropolitans 92 games in light of Wembanyama’s celebrity status — and tickets were selling for hundreds of dollars on the resale market. The Wembanyama phenomenon figures to create a huge crop of new NBA fans in France when he begins playing for the Spurs in the fall.

“We’ve had this traditional setup in France — you are going to play the sport your dad played, or the sport he watches,” said Maxime Raynaud, who plays at Stanford. “And so for the past 100 years, everyone just picked up a soccer ball. Now, we have access to basketball. We have role models for basketball. And Victor is going to be the face of that.”

Wembanyama has a crucial playoff game today as his team’s best-of-three series with Cholet is tied at 1-1. Beyond winning an LNB Pro A title and making an impact in the NBA, he has his eyes on the 2024 Olympics, which will take place in Paris.

“My goal,” he said, “is to beat Team USA in the final.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

After officially signing with G League Ignite, Thierry Darlan hopes to prove that Africa can produce NBA-level guards as well as big men, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Darlan hails from the Central African Republic and graduated from the NBA Academy Africa. “When they talk about basketball in Africa, they always talk about the center, the big,” Darlan said. “It’s a big challenge to change that to talking about (a) point guard. In Africa, we’re not just known to run the floor and get rebounds. We can do many things, too. We can pass the ball. Create for others. That is my mission to show that African players can do more.”
Lakers guard Dennis Schröder, who is entering free agency, said he plans to play for Germany this summer in the FIBA World Cup, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Hall of Famer Yao Ming has stepped down as head of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an Associated Press report. No official explanation was given, but the league has been plagued by allegations of corruption, including match fixing.

Lakers Notes: Role Players, Russell, Bamba, KCP, James

May 21st, 2023 at 5:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Among the many issues the Lakers face as they try to dig themselves out of a 3-0 hole in the Western Conference Finals is the lack of production from their role players, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes.

Beyond their two superstars and Austin Reaves, the Lakers got modest contributions from the remaining members of the rotation in Game 3 against the Nuggets. D’Angelo Russell (three points), Dennis Schröder (five points) and Jarred Vanderbilt (two points) were non-factors offensively.

“I thought they did the best they could, all of them,” coach Darvin Ham said. “They competed. I’m disappointed but I’m not upset. Yeah, it sucks to lose, but those guys, they fought their hearts out. They tried to do it. They tried to execute what we gave them.”

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Russell admitted he’s baffled by his ineffective play, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. Russell, who’s headed to free agency, shot just 1-for-8 from the field on Saturday. “I really don’t. I don’t know,” he said when asked about how his approach needs to change. “I’ll try to figure it out.” He’s averaging just 7.0 points in the series after contributing 14.7 PPG in the second round against Golden State.
The Lakers will have another frontcourt option for Game 4 on Monday. Mohamed Bamba is expected to be available, Ham told Chris Haynes of TNT (Twitter link). Bamba, who has appeared in only three postseason games due to a left ankle injury, hasn’t played since Game 6 in the first round against Memphis.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s defensive contributions and 3-point shot-making were often taken for granted during the Lakers’ 2020 title run at the Orlando bubble. His all-around contributions for the Nuggets in this series are a painful reminder of the ill-fated Russell Westbrook trade in 2021, which included Caldwell-Pope as part of the package, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN notes. KCP is averaging 15.3 points on 51.4% shooting in the series.
LeBron James is showing his age by his inability to carry the Lakers in this series, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times opines. James played well enough in Game 3 but wasn’t great, and he needed to be great to bridge the gap that exists between the Nuggets and Lakers.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Davis, Bamba, Reaves, Hachimura

May 20th, 2023 at 7:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

General manager Rob Pelinka reshuffled the Lakers‘ roster to give LeBron James and Anthony Davis their best shot at another NBA title, but the two stars haven’t lived up to expectations so far in the Western Conference Finals, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic.

L.A. trails the series 2-0 after letting a pair of winnable games slip away in Denver. James missed a layup and botched a wide-open dunk in the second quarter Thursday, while Davis shot just 4-of-15 from the field after a 40-point night in Game 1. Amick notes that neither player is as dominant as they were when L.A. defeated Denver in the 2020 conference finals, which is understandable with James considering that he’s 38, but it’s more puzzling for Davis, who should still be in his prime at age 30.

“I got the same looks,” Davis told reporters after Game 2. “… I liked all the looks that I got today. Just a lot of them (were) short. I’m going to continue to shoot those shots and I’ve got to be better, more efficient, (to) help the team win. So, I’ll be better.”

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James isn’t concerned about his three-point shooting, even though he’s off to an 0-for-10 start in the series, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James shot 32.1% from beyond the arc this season, his lowest figure in seven years, but his teammates are encouraging him to keep shooting whenever he’s open. “It’s LeBron James. I don’t think anybody bats an eye when he shoots a shot or questions his shot,” Austin Reaves said. “We want him taking whatever he feels comfortable with, just because he’s a winning basketball player for his whole career and that’s all he wants to do, he wants to win.”
Coach Darvin Ham altered his starting five for Game 2, but the change he made wasn’t the one he needed, contends Kevin Pelton of ESPN. There was speculation that Rui Hachimura might start after he did an effective job guarding Nikola Jokic late in Game 1, but Ham opted to replace Dennis Schröder with Jarred Vanderbilt instead. Although Vanderbilt controlled Jamal Murray early on, he bogged down the offense due to his lack of shooting range. Pelton argues that Ham should consider starting Hachimura and Schröder while bringing D’Angelo Russell off the bench.
Mohamed Bamba, who hasn’t played since April 28 because of left ankle soreness, may be able to return in Game 4 or 5, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Lakers are virtually certain to match any offer sheets signed by Reaves or Hachimura, who are both restricted free agents, Wojnarowski states on the latest edition of his podcast (hat tip to Silver Screen and Roll). “I don’t see any scenario where the Lakers would not match on both,” Wojnarowski said. “They have to. … They’ve proved themselves to be win-now players with LeBron and Anthony Davis on their timeline (and) these are both starting-level players.”

Lakers Notes: James, Davis, Bamba, Schröder, Vanderbilt

May 15th, 2023 at 7:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Despite his age and two decades as an NBA player, Lakers superstar LeBron James continues to defy Father Time with his All-Star level performances. Teammate D’Angelo Russell has a simple explanation for why James continues to excel at an age when most NBA players have already retired, according to Greg Beacham of The Associated Press.

”Bron’s niche has always been preparedness,” Russell said. ”A lot of guys’ niches is shooting the ball, working hard, outworking guys. LeBron is a film junkie, a basketball junkie, a leadership junkie. To be able to watch it all from the front row, it’s almost like a cheat code.”

James has played in a league-record 278 postseason games, and his 7,912 career postseason points are nearly 2,000 more than Michael Jordan (5,987) atop the NBA’s career playoff scoring list, Beacham adds.

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The team’s Game 1 injury report didn’t have any surprises. James and Anthony Davis were both listed as probable for Tuesday’s game, as they were for much of the Warriors series, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Both have been playing through right foot ailments. Mohamed Bamba is listed as out due to left ankle soreness.
Bamba wasn’t at Monday’s practice in Denver because he’s back in Los Angeles after getting a PRP injection in his ankle earlier this postseason, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. He has a follow-up appointment there on Tuesday and will rejoin the team afterward, Buha adds. Bamba has only made three cameo appearances during this postseason.
Coach Darvin Ham tweaked his lineup in the series finale against the Warriors, inserting guard Dennis Schröder in favor of small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register notes. Will Ham stick with the lineup switch for the Nuggets’ series? That’s TBD, though Ham liked how Schröder hounded Stephen Curry, which could lead to a similar defensive assignment against Jamal Murray. “Dennis came in and set an unbelievable tone defensively,” Ham said.

Schröder Replacing Vanderbilt In Lakers’ Game 6 Starting Lineup

May 12th, 2023 at 9:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Guard Dennis Schröder is replacing forward Jarred Vanderbilt in the Lakers‘ starting lineup for Friday’s Game 6 versus Golden State, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape.

It will be the first change head coach Darvin Ham has made to L.A.’s starting lineup in the 2022/23 postseason. Vanderbilt had gotten the nod in the previous 11 playoff games.

After a solid first-round series against Memphis and a strong defensive performance in Game 1 against the Warriors, Vanderbilt has struggled mightily over the past four games against the defending champions, averaging just 2.5 PPG and 3.8 RPG and going a combined 2-of-15 from the field in 14.4 MPG.

He has been particularly ineffective over the past two contests, recording a minus-23 plus/minus in his 22 minutes of action after the Warriors went small by inserting Gary Payton II into the starting lineup. Now the Lakers will match the guard-heavy approach with one of their own.

Schröder, on the other hand, had a quiet first-round series against the Grizzlies, but has come to life against the Warriors, averaging 11.8 PPG, 2.6 APG and 1.0 SPG on .476/.333/.778 shooting over five games. The team is plus-28 in his 64 minutes over the past two contests.

The Lakers currently lead the series 3-2 and have a chance to eliminate Golden State tonight at home. In case you missed it, Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will be active despite dealing with a left costal cartilage fracture.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Pelinka, Schröder, Bamba

May 3rd, 2023 at 5:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James and Stephen Curry represent the marquee matchup in the Lakers-Warriors series, but Game 1 belonged to Anthony Davis, writes Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Davis posted 30 points, 23 rebounds and five assists Tuesday night as L.A. picked up a road victory in the series opener. He also had five blocks and provided a deterrent to Golden State shooters on numerous other attempts.

“He’s one of the few guys that can defend laterally and vertically,” coach Darvin Ham said. “By that I mean he can get down in a stance and move his feet, keep a guard in front of him, force a tough, contested shot. I knew watching him during his days in New Orleans, watching him in the bubble, he’s an elite defender.”

Davis’ most significant number on Tuesday may have been the nearly 44 minutes that he played. He had a few days of rest after the Lakers closed out their first-round series on Friday, so Ham felt comfortable leaving him in the game longer than usual, including the entire second half.

Goodwill notes that the injuries that limited Davis to 56 games this season prevented him from making the All-Star Game and will likely keep him from earning an All-NBA spot. But when he’s healthy, Davis has always been recognized as one of the league’s best talents.

“He’s doing exactly what I anticipated him to do,” Ham said. “He’s playing like the top-five NBA player that he is.”

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Rob Pelinka’s 11th-place finish in the Executive of the Year voting doesn’t reflect the job he did in turning the team around at midseason, states Sam Amick of The Athletic. L.A. got off to a miserable start and wasn’t able to reach .500 until the end of March, but Pelinka’s rebuilt roster now looks like it can compete with anyone in the league. “I mean, we went 2-10 to start the year,” Austin Reaves said. “Darv wrote it on the board the other day, where I think they gave us like a 0.3 percent chance of making the playoffs at that time. For us to really just keep our head down and grind through it, like you said — it’s felt like a long year. But you look up, and you’re 1-0 against the defending champs. Anybody in the world would take that scenario.”
Dennis Schröder made several clutch plays late in Game 1 to help the Lakers hold off a Golden State rally, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Schröder, who’s headed back into free agency this summer, said he’s feeling good after being slowed by an Achilles issue in the first-round series.
Mohamed Bamba missed Tuesday’s game with soreness in his left ankle, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The backup big man received an injection to help ease the pain before the start of the series, McMenamin adds.