Dennis Schroder: Boston Celtics to sign former Los Angeles Lakers guard on one-year, $5.9m deal

Dennis Schroder: Boston Celtics to sign former Los Angeles Lakers guard on one-year, $5.9m deal

Dennis Schroder has confirmed he has agreed to a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics worth a reported $5.9m (£4.3m).

"I'm proud to announce that for the 2021-22 season I'll be playing with the Boston Celtics!" Schroder wrote on his Instagram account.

"This is one of the best franchises in NBA history and it will be a honor to put on the green and white and do what I love!

"I'm going out there every night and leaving it all on the floor for the city!! Who's ready?!"

Schroder reportedly turned down a four-year, $84m (£60.8m) extension from the Los Angeles Lakers during last season.

The 27-year-old guard averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 61 games (all starts) last season in his lone campaign with the Lakers.

He has career averages of 14.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 557 games (238 starts) over eight seasons with the Atlanta Hawks (2013-18), Oklahoma City Thunder (2018-20) and Lakers.

Boston was looking to add a point guard after dealing away four-time All-Star Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It would be an understatement to suggest the Los Angeles Lakers were in a worrying position heading into free agency on Monday night.

After all, Luol Deng, who has not played a minute of basketball for the franchise since 2017 and actually retired in 2019, was the fourth-highest earner on their books before all the madness started.

Over the course of 24 hours, the Lakers - sorry, Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski - announced the free-agent signings of Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Carmelo Anthony, Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn.

One thing should jump out at you about that collection of players brought in to replace almost the entirety of the team. Other than Monk, Horton-Tucker and Nunn, there is a lot of NBA experience in that group. Which you should accept in the same way as someone telling you there is a lot of experience in The Rolling Stones. They are old. Really old. Anthony is 37, Ariza 36, Howard 35, Ellington 33 and Bazemore 32.

They join a Lakers roster headlined by LeBron James, who is 36 years old himself. Starting center Marc Gasol is the same age. Russell Westbrook, who was added in an earth-shattering trade last Friday, is 33 in November, a relative spring chicken.

In fact, to acquire Westbrook, the Lakers had to stump up Kyle Kuzma (26 and drafted by the franchise), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (28) and Montrezl Harrell (27), three core guys nearing their prime years, along with the 22nd pick in this year's draft.

Add to that general manager Rob Pelinka's decision not to use their bird rights (meaning they could go over the salary cap) to re-sign Alex Caruso, 27 years old and a key bench piece, and it is clear the team is trending in only one direction. Experience, short-term contracts and huge amounts of player upheaval each offseason to maximise this, the home stretch of James' storied career.