The big payday for Dennis Schröder in the NBA did not materialize. Instead of signing a long-term contract, he now has to prove himself for a year. It’s the end of a summer that couldn’t have been worse.
At least the malice does not cost Dennis Schröder anything, and Germany’s best basketball player is getting plenty of that these days. The development player moves from the west coast of the USA to the east coast, from one record champion to another, from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Boston Celtics. For the first time in his NBA career, the 27-year-old chooses his employer in the most spectacular and best league in the world. A move that appears to cost him around $ 78 million. And with it more money than he has made since moving to the NBA in summer 2013 – the 5.9 millionthat he will receive in Boston for the coming season.
The agreement on the One year contract with the Celtics is the temporary end of a bet on himself that Schröder has clearly and undoubtedly lost. In the spring, according to media reports, the Point Guard had the chance to extend in Los Angeles for four years and 84 million. Schröder refused, instead wanted to recommend himself with strong performances in the regular season and the playoffs for a better offer. The Lakers, however, disappointed in the postseason and failed in round one with the goal of defending their title (admittedly very ambitious in view of the ailing superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis).
Schröder remained well below expectations. In the last three games he only hit a catastrophic 9 of 36 throws, then waited in vain for lucrative offers and now has to be able to calculate that he lost 78 million. Without finding a single cent less on his bank statements. Apparently rather little consolation: the renowned daily newspaper “Boston Herald” reports that the 27-year-old was “paralyzed by shock” when he realized his situation. The self-confidence with which Schröder made it from the open court in Braunschweig to the currently best active German basketball player was not rewarded.
Participation in the Olympics costs insurance
To understand Schröder’s decision against the extension in Los Angeles, it is worth taking a look at the NBA’s collective agreement. It ensures that most professionals are only able to freely choose their employer for the first time at the end of their second contract. Schröder reached exactly this point this summer after he was selected in the 2013 draft by the Atlanta Hawks in 17th place and after four years signed a new contract for four years. No other team could have offered him nearly as good conditions as Atlanta. In 2018 the Hawks sent him and his contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which in turn transferred him to Los Angeles in 2020.
For the first time, Schröder is “Free Agent”, as players who do not have a contract are officially called. “It’s just one thing, I want to feel it, I want to find out how it is,” he said in an interview with the German media in the spring.
What was to become the big payday turned out to be forgotten at the end of a summer. Because the bet on the big contract prevented Schröder from traveling with the German national team to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The point guard already missed the qualifying tournament immediately before, which Armin Andres justified as Vice President of the German Basketball Association: Schröder expects a long-term contract with a total volume of “100 to 120 million” and “this sum insured can currently be […] Don’t insure “. Instead of leading the team on the field, Schröder was forced to become a noble fan. For the one-year contract with the Celtics, insurance would have been found almost certainly.
Don’t expect that much profit
Instead, Schröder had little choice but to rely on himself again. If he still plays a season like the last one for the Lakers, the offers will also be sparse in summer 2022. The focus here is likely to be on the quota of three. While Schröder still hit 38.5 percent of his distance throws for Oklahoma City in 2019/20 and was thus above the NBA average, in 2020/21 it was only a below-average 33.5 percent. In a league in which reliable three-shooters are essential for team success, this is not enough, especially because Schröder’s game is primarily defined by his offensive and less by his defense.
In addition to the sporting question marks, the unrest around Schröder next to the field could have contributed to the fact that he had to wait a surprisingly long time for a contract offer. Shortly before the playoffs, he had missed seven games due to the NBA health protocol and announced in an interview after his return that he was “the only one [Spieler der Lakers; Anm. d. Red]who is not [gegen das Coronavirus] vaccinated. “Vaccination was” a difficult thing “for him, he said in April. At that time, according to NBA boss Adam Silver, over 70 percent of the professionals had been vaccinated at least once it is now 90 percent. It is not known whether Schröder is one of them.
After all, after weeks of speculation, it is now clear which club the 27-year-old is going into the new NBA season with. For the Celtics, Schröder is a good commitment, the risk is manageable with a one-year contract and the comparatively low salary. For the father of two, a team with clear playoff ambitions offers the chance to position themselves next to the sporting success for the Free Agency in the coming summer. A new bet, so to speak. Although he would be well advised to reduce the profit expectation a little.
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