There is now this short video by Dennis Schröder on Instagram. It would be an understatement to say that it causes a stir, as it would be an understatement to say that Schröder is a viable basketball player. Because he is a great basketball player, just like he is a great skateboarder, and that is exactly what you can see in this video: Schröder in the skate park, he presents a kickflip, backside grind, manual, another backside grind and a kickflip over the rail.
It looks easy, but, as the Olympic Games in Tokyo have just shown: Skateboarding is a dangerous sport, and didn’t Schröder decide not to take part in the Olympic basketball tournament because the risk of injury and thus the sum insured would have been too high? Why in the world does he publish such a video when he is still without a club?
It’s amazing what is happening to Schröder in the North American professional league NBA. the Free Agency is running, and you have to imagine dealing with players without a contract as a mixture of dominoes, prom and a trip to Jerusalem: clubs want to hire the best possible players within the rules of the collective agreement, which only math geniuses understand. Depending on their age and personal goals, they want to earn money, win titles and sharpen their own brand. Negotiations can begin on August 2, but a contract can only be officially signed four days later. When the first domino falls, then it starts, and at some point the places to be allocated in the squad become fewer and fewer. Schröder, however, stands in the corner, so to speak, and waits.
What happened?
At the beginning of the year, Schröder was firmly scheduled for the Free Agency as one of the most sought-after players. He was a regular playmaker for title contender Los Angeles Lakers, he put the balls on LeBron James and Anthony Davis for Dunkings. Lakers manager Rob Pelinka wanted to prevent flirting with other interested parties. He offered $ 84 million for four seasons, or $ 21 million a season. That’s a lot of money, and to all those who blaspheme that Schröder should have accepted the offer, let me say: Yes, he should have, but a title for the Lakers would be a realistic goal, James and Anthony would not be long injured) also a three-digit million amount was in it. So it was poker, and by the time he gave up, he had great cards in hand. In retrospect, of course, one is always smarter.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson criticizes Dennis Schröder harshly
After that, pretty much everything went wrong that can go wrong at the end of a season: Schröder missed a few games because he had to be quarantined due to the NBA’s Covid rules. First there was excitement about whether he was vaccinated – and then about whether he might have published the vaccination status of colleague James incorrectly. His style of play in the playoffs, in which the Lakers failed in the first round: listless. In the meantime, he even deleted from his Instagram profile the entry that he is a Lakers playmaker. Schröder is a savvy social media user, he was aware that something like this would cause irritation – like the skating video. After the season, Lakers legend Magic Johnson said: “I don’t think he has the mentality and will to win that it takes to be a Laker.”
Still, there was still $ 100 million in the room, and that led to the abandonment of the Olympics; it was said that the insurance policy was 400,000 euros. That’s a lot of money, and Schröder probably didn’t think that he could have recommended himself in Tokyo, as Moritz Wagner, 24, did. Wagner also got a two-year contract with Orlando Magic because of his good performance in the summer. The Florida team also voted Wagner’s younger brother Franz, 19, in eighth place at the talent exchange.
A club that is repositioning itself won’t spend $ 100 million on a 27-year-old
It was certainly not Schröder’s job to contribute to the police, and so he could not paint a different picture of himself in Tokyo. What remains is the impression of the listless playoffs and the devastating judgment of Johnson. And many interested parties from the spring have now planned differently; the Chicago Bulls brought the playmakers Lonzo Ball (New Orleans Pelicans) and Alex Caruso (Lakers), the Lakers signed Russell Westbrook and waived a new offer for Schröder. He is now trapped because of the structure of the NBA, in which there are only two types of clubs: the title candidates and those who are repositioning themselves in the medium term. The former have largely filled their cadres and have little room for maneuver on the salary cap – a team that is repositioning won’t spend $ 100 million on a 27-year-old who may not be in the mood for rebuilding. It’s just a tough business, and the NBA companies are clearly showing Schröder that they definitely don’t want to pay him what he wants.
There were negotiations with the Boston Celtics, but that’s when the peculiarities of the collective agreement became apparent. There are two options: The Lakers give Schröder a contract and immediately enter into an exchange deal (“Sign and Trade”) with the Celtics. They would send Josh Richardson to Los Angeles – for that to work, Schröder would have to earn roughly what the Richardson contract is worth, according to the rules: $ 11.6 million. The Lakers don’t seem interested because it would mean paying an additional $ 46 million because of the luxury tax if they exceed the salary cap – $ 11.6 million plus $ 2.975 for every dollar over the salary cap, in this case 34.51 million. And just to get Richardson.
That leaves the “Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exeption” (MLE), in which the Celtics could only offer $ 9.5 million for the coming season. Or the Golden State Warriors, who are only allowed to offer 5.7 million via their MLE. That would be a lot less money, and maybe that’s why Schröder can be seen in the skatepark: The policy for an insurance currently should only be a fraction of what it would be for the Olympic tournament, given the salaries in the room.