Raptors' Point Guard Drawing Interest From Western Conference Team

Dennis Schröder may be heading back out West.

The Toronto Raptors backup point guard is said to have drawn interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, Schröder’s former team, ahead of the trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Schröder left the Lakers this past summer to join Toronto where he’d anticipated he’d be the team’s starting point guard. He started the first 29 games of the season for the Raptors but was moved to the bench as Toronto looked to reconfigure its starting lineup.

The addition of Immanuel Quickley and Toronto’s pivot toward a rebuild has made Schröder, 30, more expendable these days. For the Lakers, he’d offer a known commodity and the kind of backup point guard Los Angeles has been missing this season with Gabe Vincent battling injuries.

Considering Schröder’s contract, Los Angeles would have to give up at least one of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, or Vincent to facilitate a trade with the Raptors. None of those players is on an expiring contract which would limit Toronto’s flexibility moving forward.

The Lakers have one first-round pick that they can trade outright in 2029 and pick swaps they can offer in 2026, 2028, and 2030. They also have as many as five second-round picks they could offer Toronto.

With Toronto heading toward a rebuild, it appears Schröder is just one of many Raptors players who could be dealt next month. Bruce Brown Jr., Chris Boucher, and Gary Trent Jr. have also had their names mentioned in trade talks and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Raptors continued to make moves to reshape their roster over the coming weeks.