© Jayne Kamin-Oncea | 2019 Nov 19
Starting at 9 a.m. PT on Monday, NBA teams can start making trades. More than 24 hours before, we already have rumblings of a blockbuster.
Via Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers and Thunder are engaged in “active talks” that would send Dennis Schroder to Los Angeles and LA’s 28th pick in the upcoming draft to Oklahoma City. Lakers veteran wing Danny Green would also likely be part of the deal as a salary match for Schroder, according to The Athletic.
Despite winning the NBA title just a few months ago, the Lakers struggled all season to find a consistant third scorer behind LeBron James (25.3 PPG) and Anthony Davis (26.1 PPG), with Kyle Kuzma coming in third at 12.8 points per game. Schroder averaged nearly 19 a clip off the bench with the Thunder last season, his 46.9 FG % and 38.5 3PT FG% both career highs. Schroder’s three point shooting will be huge for a Lakers team that finished bottom 10 in that category last year.
It is expected that Schroder will replace Rajon Rondo in the Lakers’ point guard hierarchy. The veteran declined his player option in search of a big payday in free agency.