Report: Celtics in talks to add free agent Dennis Schroder originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Will the Boston Celtics find point guard help on the free-agent market after all?
The Celtics are in discussions to sign free-agent guard Dennis Schroder, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported Friday. The talks are still “ongoing,” per Fischer, with no agreement reached yet.
Schroder turned down a four-year, $84 million contract extension offer from the Los Angeles Lakers midway through last season, which appeared to be a grave miscalculation when he went unsigned early in 2021 free agency.
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It’s unclear what the Celtics could offer Schroder without trimming elsewhere on the roster if their goal is to maintain financial flexibility entering the 2022 offseason. Schroder would fill a need for Boston, though: With Marcus Smart and Payton Pritchard topping the point guard depth chart, the C’s lack a quality scorer at the position after trading Kemba Walker.
Schroder averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists per game for the Lakers last season and was the Oklahoma City Thunder’s second-leading scorer in 2019-20, putting up 18.9 points per game on 46.9% shooting. He’s also a high-energy player who could form a solid defensive backcourt duo with Smart.
If the Celtics sign Schroder to a deal with an annual value north of the $9.5 million midlevel exception, then it’s possible another shoe drops in the form of a Smart trade or an expansion of the Tristan Thompson-for-Kris Dunn deal.
Either way, it appears the wheels are spinning for C’s president of basketball operations Brad Stevens amid an offseason of relative inactivity.