It took a few weeks for Dennis Schroder to get his work visa sorted out after representing Germany in EuroBasket, but he finally made it to the Lakers training camp, got to play a little with the team... and soon injured his thumb.
That thumb injury required surgery, coach Darvin Ham announced a day before the Lakers’ first game of the season. Schroder could be out for around a month.
Dennis Schroder underwent a procedure to repair a ligament in his thumb today, according to Lakers coach Darvin Ham. He is expected to be sidelined 3-4 weeks, per Ham.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 17, 2022
The Lakers are expected to start Patrick Beverley at the point, with Russell Westbrook as the sixth man and playmaker off the bench (if he is healthy enough to go, he is day-to-day with a hamstring strain). Schroder will provide depth behind those two and a little more shot creation once he gets healthy.
Schroder had a generally unimpressive stint with the Lakers in the 2020-21 season, but he still averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists a game. He didn’t fit well with Boston to start last season, the Celtics traded him to the young Rockets, which was a worse fit as they were looking to play their youngsters heavy minutes. After an impressive EuroBasket run, Schroder said he wanted to come back to the Lakers and show the last time he was here was not who he really is as a player.
The Lakers could have used Schroder during a brutal five-game stretch to open the season: At Warriors, Clippers, Trail Blazers, at Nuggets, at Timberwolves.