Pending free agent Dennis Schroder wants to run it back with Lakers next season

Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder says the club will be back better than ever next season after being eliminated from the playoffs with a 113-100 Game 6 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. 

"We going to be back," the pending free agent told the Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner. "I'm going to work my a-- off to come back here to give everything because we owe them fans one and I want to win a championship," he added. "I'm going to work my a-- off this summer to come back and be me."

It's unclear if the Lakers want Schroder back next season. He was rather inconsistent in his first season with the Purple and Gold and certainly didn't help his case during the playoffs.

For the series, Schroder averaged 14.3 points and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 40.3% from the field and 31.9% from deep. Those numbers were all lower than his regular-season output, and he even had zero points in a pivotal Game 5 that L.A. lost. 

The 27-year-old turned down an $84-million extension offer from the Lakers during the regular season but insisted he doesn't care about the price tag on his next deal.

"It wasn't about money, because everybody who knows me, it's not about money either," Schroder told Turner. "Of course, you want to be fair. But at the end of the day, not everything is about money - for me and my family. ... If everything is good, we gonna come back and win a championship next year."

Instead of re-signing Schroder, the Lakers could opt to go after several free agents who could help them get back to the NBA Finals, including Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Victor Oladipo, Lonzo Ball and Derrick Rose.