The Boston Celtics have reportedly made their pitch to free agent guard Dennis Schröder.
But there appears to be a hold up between the sides, according to ESPN’s Jordan Schultz.
“Celtics have offered Dennis Schröder a one-year deal – at the taxpayer $5.9 million [mid-level exception] – per league sources,” Schultz tweeted Tuesday. “The current hold up for Schröder is twofold: He wants the full [mid-level exception] – which is $9.5 million – and also seeks a second-year player option. Boston doesn’t want to be hard-capped.”
In other words, Schröder wants the kind of contract that will force the Celtics to get creative with their roster and salary cap, which is obviously not the desired path for Brad Stevens and the Celtics, especially with an executed-to-date offseason gameplan that’s been centered around financial flexibility both this year and next year.
But the Celtics certainly need some help at point guard, with Marcus Smart currently slated to be the Green’s starting point guard, and with some limited help behind him with Payton Pritchard and Carsen Edwards. The recently acquired Kris Dunn could also factor into the Celtics’ depth at point guard, but there’s been talk of Dunn not being long for the C’s plans.
The 27-year-old Schröder is coming off a 2020-21 season with Los Angeles where he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game over a 61-game run with the Lakers. Schröder’s 5.8 assists per night finished as his highest average since his 6.2 dimes per game with the Hawks in 2017-18, and his 1.1 steals per game were tied for a single-season best.
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
