Lakers, Dennis Schroder are far apart on new contract, which contributed to Kyle Lowry trade talks, per report

Schroder is eligible for a four-year, $83 million deal right now

The Los Angeles Lakers spent their trade deadline day trying to upgrade at point guard by acquiring Kyle Lowry. The move was surprising on several levels, none more so than the fact that the Lakers traded a first-round pick for a point guard in Dennis Schroder only four months ago. It's been an up-and-down season for Schroder, who is averaging 15.1 points per game while playing excellent defense, but is shooting only 43.1 percent from the field 31.5 percent from behind the arc, and that inconsistency helped motivate the Lakers to seek out a trade. 

Schroder will be a free agent this offseason, and he is currently eligible for a four-year, $83 million extension with the Lakers. He has been eligible for such a deal since February, but no contract has materialized. As it stands, the two sides are not close on a new deal -- Jovan Buha and Bill Oram of The Athletic reports -- and knowing that Schroder wants over $20 million per year, the Lakers tried to flip him and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for Lowry, who reportedly wants a two-year, $50 million deal this offseason. That would have cost the Lakers more annually, but the length of the contract would have aligned with the two-year extension LeBron James signed this season and likely put them in position to create max cap space in 2023. The younger Schroder seemingly wants a longer deal. 

"I want to be a Laker for a long time," Schroder said a week before the deadline. "I just want it to be fair." His definition of fair, at this point, is not clear, nor is it known what the Lakers can offer. That $83 million figure is based on the limitations present for all veteran contract extensions. Schroder is making $15.5 million this season, before incentives, and can only receive a 20 percent raise in the first season of a new deal. If he waits until the offseason, he can sign for anything up to the max. It is therefore possible that the Lakers have offered as much as they are legally allowed to and have been rebuffed. They may not have, though, and that could be contributing to Schroder's hesitance to sign. 

The deadline has now passed. The Lakers cannot trade him for Lowry or any other replacement. Schroder will have to play with the knowledge that he was nearly dealt, and that could make things awkward both on the court and at the bargaining table. But winning cures all. If the Lakers win the championship with Schroder this season, they will surely pay up to keep him. If not? It could be a contentious offseason of negotiations between the Lakers and their point guard they hoped would be a big part of their future.