Sources: Los Angeles Lakers begin contract extension talks with Dennis Schroder

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ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>
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December 25, 2020, 7:39 PM ET
3 min read

The Los Angeles Lakers have begun engaging with starting point guard Dennis Schroder in contract extension talks, and those discussions are expected to pick up again as soon as mid-February, sources told ESPN.

Before the start of the season, Schroder turned down an initial Lakers offer to extend his contract for an additional two years and $33.4 million, sources said -- an overture that represented the maximum allowable offer the Lakers could make to him prior to Feb. 16.

Schroder, who entered the final year of a $15.5 million contract, becomes eligible to extend that deal for more money and more years -- as much as $83 million over four years -- between Feb. 16 through the start of the 2021 offseason.

Schroder, 27, had a strong debut for the Lakers against the  LA Clippers on Tuesday, nearly reaching a triple-double (14 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds) and delivering a point guard dimension that the franchise hasn't possessed in years. The Lakers acquired Schroder in multiteam trade with the  Oklahoma City Thunder that cost Los Angeles a 2021 first-round pick and guard Danny Green.

The Lakers can offer a starting salary of $18.6 million starting with the 2021-22 season, which creates much more of a realistic opportunity for the Lakers, Schroder and his agent, Alex Saratsis, to find a landing spot on a market-value extension with the Lakers.

If there's no deal before the offseason, the Lakers possessed Schroder's Bird rights to go over the salary cap in re-signing him. To lose Schroder in free agency would leave the Lakers limited in replacing him, because they'd only have a $9.5 million midlevel exception available to use in free agency.

Because Schroder had been traded in the offseason, he had been eligible for only an additional two years and a 105% increase off his current $15.5 million salary.

In seven NBA seasons with the  Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City, Schroder reached the playoffs six times -- including one of his best overall campaigns with the Thunder in 2019-20: averaging 18.9 points, four assists, four rebounds and a nearly 38.5% 3-point shooting rate.