The dominoes are starting to fall as rumors of a trade to send OKC Thunder guard Dennis Schroder to the Lakers emerge.
Fasten your seatbelts OKC Thunder fans!
This coming week could be the busiest in franchise history. Wednesday, November 18th, and Friday, November 20th marks the NBA Draft and Free Agency Moratorium. Yet, the week will start with the restriction on transactions ending as teams can finally make trades.
OKC Thunder in trade talks with Lakers for Dennis Schroder
The first deal looks like it might involve the OKC Thunder and guard Dennis Schroder in exchange for the 28th pick in the 2020 Draft plus 3 and D specialist Danny Green.
Suffice to say Monday will unleash a horde of rumored deals and theories on deals. With the Thunder prepared to begin their next era punctuated by repositioning that means several core veterans will likely exit town.
Chris Paul is in talks with the Phoenix Suns and while the initial deal didn’t meet with Sam Presti’s satisfaction, talks continue making his exit almost a veritable certainty.
As per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the trade can be put into action as early as noon Eastern Standard Time on Monday.
Lakers guard Danny Green and the No. 28 overall pick have been a focus of the trade discussions for Schroder, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/KOAcjyIked
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
This was arguably Schroder’s best year of his career. The German meshed well with Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander forming three-fifths of the vaunted clutch time Thunder group who dominated that critical segment in games. Schroder was also a finalist to win Sixth Man of the Year but lost out to Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell.
Wojnarowski noted this trade is to proactively replace Rajon Rondo who is expected to be priced out of the range the Lakers are willing to pay.
With Schroder in the last year of his contract ($15.5 M), it makes sense Sam Presti would want to capitalize on dealing the crafty point guard now.
Sources: The Bucks pursued a trade with the Thunder for Dennis Schroder and were deep in trade negotiations last week. Ultimately, the Lakers landed Schroder. Now the Bucks must move on to other targets. Eric Bledsoe remains the player Milwaukee is dangling most in trade talks.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) November 15, 2020
That said, I’m not sure the 28th pick and Danny Green ($15.3 M) are the best trade package the Thunder could net for Schroder’s services. Other teams were in the mix which was verified by Kevin O’Connor (as per the above tweet) who said the Bucks had inquired about Schroder.
We’ll know more if the deal gets finalized on Monday. Something tells me there will be another pick involved but we’ll have to wait and see.