#Dennis Schroder signs one-year, $5.9 million deal with Celtics

From $84 million to $5.9 million.

Dennis Schroder signed a one-year, $5.9 million contract with the Celtics Tuesday afternoon after turning down a four-year, $84 million contract extension from the Lakers in March. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported the signing and Schroder later confirmed it on his Instagram page. 

The 27-year-old point guard turned down a monster extension earlier in the year and bet on himself, but financially, it backfired – by about $80 million.

Schroder got injured late last season and struggled in the Lakers’ first-round loss to the Suns – the Lakers responded by trading for nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook and signing a variety of veterans earlier to replace Schroder earlier in the offseason.

Schroder averaged 15.4 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting from the field and 33.5 percent shooting from deep in the 2020-21 regular season for the Lakers. The year prior on the Thunder, the Brunswick, Germany native averaged 18.9 points per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc.

During free agency, Schroder was the odd man out on the point guard market. Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, Lonzo Ball, Mike Conley, Spencer Dinwiddie, Devonte’ Graham and Derrick Rose all got their money, leaving Schroder with slim pickings.

The Celtics needed a floor general after trading Kemba Walker to the Thunder – he was eventually bought out and signed with the Knicks – and they snagged Schroder to a cheap deal to play alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.