Celtics and Dennis Schröder agree on one-year/$5.89M deal

Boston gets strong point guard depth in a move that benefits both sides equally.

The Boston Celtics and Dennis Schröder have come to an agreement on a one-year deal for the taxpayer MLE at $5.89 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

The most important part of this news is the fact that the Celtics ended up not having to directly shed salary to add Schröder. Additionally, the Celtics will not be hard-capped because of the fact that he’s taking the taxpayer MLE and not the non-taxpayer MLE.

Although there are some potential chemistry concerns, this is pretty much a slam-dunk win-win deal. He averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds on 43.7% from the field and 33.5% from behind the 3-point line last year starting for the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the season didn’t go as planned compared to the season prior for L.A., it was more or less a good season for Schröder individually.

This is a good deal. If all goes wrong, it’s not hard to imagine a contender potentially wanting Schröder at that money at the trade deadline. If things go well, the Celtics will maintain cap flexibility next summer while Schröder gets the big money deal he (turned down already) is waiting for on the horizon.

The Celtics will have the option to either start Schröder next to Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown in the backcourt or bring him off the bench to give the bench a more veteran presence and consistent offense. He’s also a plus defender at the guard position and could potentially put the C L A M P S in a lineup next to Smart, Josh Richardson, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Rob Williams. There’s a lot of defensive potential.

The Celtics are in a good spot roster wise relative to the goals entering the offseason, so look for potentially a move for Kris Dunn and/or Bruno Fernando as well as filling out the training camp roster.