LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: Russell Westbrook might come off the bench next season, Bojan Bogdanovic still on the team's radar and more | September 17, 2022
The LA Lakers will have a dilemma on their hands entering the 2022-23 NBA season. The Lakers have three guards, Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schroder, who could be starters. The latest rumors suggest that Westbrook might come off the bench next season.
Meanwhile, the Lakers might still be interested in acquiring a shooter. They have been linked with several players from the Utah Jazz. It seems like Bojan Bogdanovic could be on their radar.
Here is the latest LA Lakers rumors roundup for Sept. 17 brought to you by Sportskeeda.
Russell Westbrook might come off the bench next season
The arrival of Dennis Schroder has put LA Lakers coach Darvin Ham in a pickle. Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley were the rumored starters, but Schroder had great performances for Germany at EuroBasket 2022.
According to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Lakers coaching staff is considering bringing Westbrook off the bench. There is hope within the organization that the former MVP will have a better campaign this season.
With training camp right around the corner, Ham can experiment with several lineups. Westbrook was initially brought in last season to relieve LeBron James of ball handling duties. That could finally happen with Westbrook taking over the second unit and terrorizing opponents.
Russell Westbrook coming off the bench is being “strongly considered” by the Lakers, per @sam_amick and @jovanbuha
HC Darvin Ham is ready to make “whatever difficult rotation decisions” lie ahead for the team https://t.co/ZgfOs2bTXJ
Dennis Schroder chose LA Lakers over Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors
Dennis Schroder famously turned down an $84 million extension from the LA Lakers in 2021. Schroder settled on a one-year, $5.9 million contract from the Boston Celtics last summer. He was traded midway through the season to the Houston Rockets.
Entering free agency once again, Schroder has returned to the Lakers. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the 29-year-old guard has agreed to a one-year, $2.64 million deal. He's coming off an impressive performance at EuroBasket 2022, leading Germany to the semifinals.
Schroder is signing a one-year, $2.64 million deal to return to the Lakers, sources said. twitter.com/ShamsCharania/…
But before Schroder agreed to return to Hollywood, he had several options. Charania noted that the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors were interested in Schroder. However, the German star wanted to play for Darvin Ham, who was an assistant during his time with the Atlanta Hawks.
Bojan Bogdanovic still on the LA Lakers' radar
The Utah Jazz have 17 players under contract heading into training camp. The Jazz would want to trim that number down, which means they are not done trading players. Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Malik Beasley are all rumored to be on the trade block.
The LA Lakers have been linked with the last three players, but it seems like they might only be interested in Bogdanovic. Tony Jones of The Athletic believes that the Lakers are in on-going talks with the Jazz regarding a potential deal. Utah has been accumulating assets this offseason and would want to add more.
However, the Lakers are not the only team interested in Bogdanovic. Jones noted that the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks want to add the Croatian sharpshooter. The Suns, Knicks and Mavericks have better assets to offer than the Lakers at the moment.