Toronto Raptors point guard Dennis Schröder absolutely fumbled the bag.
Schröder had an $84 million deal from the Los Angeles Lakers sitting on the table in 2021 and turned it down at the behest of his agents, he told Yahoo in an interview published Tuesday.
After rejecting the four year, $84 million offer from the Lakers, he ultimately signed with the Boston Celtics for a mere $5.9 million on a one-year deal. That’s right — Schröder fumbled 78 million dollars.
The German-born point guard would end up signing with the Lakers a year later anyway, but still just for a measly $2.6 million, according to Spotrac.
Schröder ultimately signed a two year, $25.4 million contact with the Raptors before the 2023-24 season.
Counting the $13 million the Raptors will pay him in 2025, Schroeder will have made roughly $34 million in contract money by the time his would-have-been deal with the Lakers was up. Not even half the $84 million LA was offering. Woof. (RELATED: Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant Out For The Rest Of The Season After Undergoing Shoulder Surgery)
Schröder claims his representation — his agent was Alex Saratsis of Octagon at the time — advised him to turn it down, something he says he wouldn’t have done otherwise. “I would have signed it,” Schröder told Yahoo. “I would never just leave money on the table. My mom didn’t raise me that way.”
He calls the two years following the bad counsel “like my two worst years of my career.” He has since changed agents, firing Octagon and bringing on Mark Bartlestein of Priority Sports, according to Sports Illustrated.
Dennis Schröder asserts that his representation this off-season advised him to decline a 4-year, $84 million extension. 😳 pic.twitter.com/pcctXfStDE
— OutOfSightSports🚀™️ (@OOSSports) January 9, 2024
Now, to be fair to Schröder, there’s no amount of money you could pay me to live in California, either, so he had me on his side until he decided to go BACK to LA for substantially less money. That’s just a bad look, buddy.