“SHOULDA SIGNED THAT CONTRACT, BABY”
The roar of the Crypto.com Arena crowd had faded to a murmur. The Los Angeles Lakers had just secured another hard fought victory, but in the handshake line, a private exchange cut deeper than any loss. As Luka DonÄiÄ approached former teammate Dennis Schröder, he leaned in, a knowing smirk on his face, and delivered a line that will haunt the veteran guard for the rest of his career.
“Shoulda signed that contract, baby.”
Just six words. A casual, brutal reminder of a decision that altered the trajectories of two franchises, cost Schröder a potential fortune, and may have forfeited a championship. The moment, captured and disseminated across social media, isn’t just trash talk. It’s the encapsulation of the most infamous contract miscalculation in modern NBA history a $84 million lesson in hubris, timing, and the unforgiving nature of professional sports.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE CONTRACT? AND HOW COULD REJECTING IT HAVE POSSIBLY LED TO A CHAMPIONSHIP RING SCHRODER NOW WATCHES FROM THE OUTSIDE? The story is a staggering tapestry of loyalty, leverage, and a gamble that backfired so spectacularly it’s taught in business schools. This is the full, unvarnished truth behind Luka’s taunt.
THE $84 MILLION OFFER: THE LAKERS’ BET AND SCHRODER’S FATAL GAMBLE
To understand the weight of Luka’s words, we must rewind to the 2020-21 season. Dennis Schröder, then the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, was riding high. He had just come off a Sixth Man of the Year runner up season with Oklahoma City and was a key starter for the defending NBA champions. He averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists per game, providing LeBron James with a reliable ball-handler and scorer.
Following that season, the Lakers, wanting to maintain their championship core, presented Schröder with a contract extension offer. The reported figure: four years, $84 million. It was a massive show of faith in a 27 year old guard, a life changing sum that would have secured generations of his family. It was the payday he had worked his entire career for.
Schröder and his agent, Alex Saratsis, said no. Publicly, the reasoning was murky a desire to test free agency, a belief he could command more on the open market. Privately, sources indicated Schröder believed he was worth over $100 million, eyeing a contract similar to Fred VanVleet’s $85 million deal with Toronto or even more. He bet on himself having a stellar platform year.
It was a catastrophic misread of his own market value. The Lakers, wary of his fluctuating performance and with other needs, withdrew the offer. Schröder entered the 2021 free agency period confident, only to find a market chilled by his playoff inconsistencies and a league shifting its financial priorities. The phone didn’t ring with $100 million offers. It barely rang at all.
In a stunning reversal, Schröder was forced to sign a one year, $5.9 million “prove-it” deal with the Boston Celtics. His annual salary dropped from a potential $21 million to less than $6 million overnight. The gamble had backfired in the most public, humiliating way possible. He went from $84 million guaranteed to betting on himself again, from a championship contender’s starting point guard to a mid level exception player.
THE DOMINO EFFECT: HOW SCHRODER’S “NO” CHANGED THE LAKERS’ DYNASTY AND DELIVERED DALLAS A TITLE
Schröder’s decision didn’t just cost him money. It set off a chain reaction that reshaped the league. Let’s play out the alternate timeline, the one Luka DonÄiÄ is implicitly referencing.
If Schröder signs the $84 million extension in 2021, the Lakers’ roster construction follows a completely different path. They likely do not feel the need to make the desperate, franchise crippling trade for Russell Westbrook later that summer. The Westbrook trade cost the Lakers Kentavious Caldwell Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and their 2021 first round pick.
Without the disastrous Westbrook experiment, the Lakers retain depth, defense, and financial flexibility. They likely remain a top tier contender in the Western Conference through 2022 and 2023. More importantly, they never become the desperate, floundering team that felt compelled to trade for Luka DonÄiÄ in a 2025 blockbuster.
This is the critical link. In our reality, the Lakers’ post-Westbrook despair, coupled with Dallas’s own frustrations, led to the seismic trade that sent DonÄiÄ to Los Angeles. In the Schröder signs timeline, the Lakers are stable and successful. They have no need to gut their future for a new superstar. Luka DonÄiÄ likely remains a Dallas Maverick into the 2025-26 season.
But here’s the championship twist: In our reality, with Schröder gone and with DonÄiÄ eventually arriving, the Lakers led by DonÄiÄ, Anthony Davis, and a resurgent LeBron James won the 2025 NBA Championship. It was Luka’s first ring, validating his trade to L.A.
So, when Luka says “Shoulda signed that contract,” he’s saying:
- You’d be $78 million richer right now.
- The Lakers probably never trade for me.
- I’m probably still in Dallas, ringless.
- But you didn’t sign. So they did trade for me.
- And now I have the ring and the max contract that should have been yours.
Schröder’s “no” was the first domino that led to Luka becoming a Laker and a champion. Schröder, meanwhile, has become a journeyman, playing for his fifth team since leaving L.A., watching from afar as the franchise he left celebrates the ultimate success without him.
THE JOURNEY OF A JOURNEYMAN: SCHRODER’S FALL FROM $84 MILLION TO THE FRINGE
Since that fateful decision, Dennis Schröder’s career has been a study in what could have been. After his miserable one year in Boston, he signed a two year, $25.9 million deal with the Houston Rockets a fraction of the Lakers’ offer. He was traded back to the Lakers in 2023 for a brief, underwhelming reunion, then to the Brooklyn Nets, and now finds himself as a backup guard for the Sacramento Kings.
His play has been fine a solid professional guard. But he is no longer viewed as a starting-caliber player on a contender, the role the Lakers envisioned for him. The market has spoken: his value is in the $10-15 million per year range, not the $20+ million he once spurned.
The psychological toll is evident. In interviews, Schröder has admitted the regret, calling the decision a “business mistake” and acknowledging he should have taken the Lakers’ offer. He has spoken about the pressure he put on his family and the sheer stress of seeing his guaranteed wealth vanish. Luka’s on-court taunt was just a public echo of the private regret Schröder has lived with for years.
Contrast his path with Luka’s. DonÄiÄ, now the face of the Lakers, is on a supermax contract worth over $215 million. He’s a champion, a perennial MVP candidate, and the heir to the Lakers’ legacy. The chasm between their careers, widened by one contract decision, is now a canyon. Luka’s comment wasn’t just gloating; it was an observation of stark, undeniable reality.
THE ULTIMATE “WHAT IF”: A FINANCIAL AND LEGACY CALAMITY
Few players in sports history have embodied the phrase “cutting off your nose to spite your face” like Dennis Schröder. Let’s quantify the catastrophe:
| The Decision Point | If He Signs (2021) | Reality (What Happened) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 Season | $21M with Lakers | $5.9M with Celtics |
| 2022-23 Season | $21M with Lakers | $9M with Rockets/Lakers |
| 2023-24 Season | $21M with Lakers | $13M with Nets/Raptors |
| 2024-25 Season | $21M with Lakers | $13M with Kings |
| Total Guaranteed (2021-25) | $84 Million | ~$40.9 Million |
| Career Trajectory | Championship-contender starter | Journeyman backup |
| Legacy | Key Laker, likely champion | Footnote in a bad business decision |
The financial loss is staggering over $43 million in guaranteed money left on the table, not even accounting for potential endorsements and the time value of money. But the legacy loss is incalculable. He could have been a lifelong Laker, a multiple time champion alongside LeBron and AD. Instead, he’s a trivia answer.
Luka DonÄiÄ, standing there as the new Lakers champion, is the living, breathing symbol of the road not taken. He occupies the role, the city, and the championship glory that Schröder’s decision indirectly helped create. The taunt works because it’s true on every level: financial, professional, and historical.
A LESSON FOR THE LEAGUE: THE PERILS OF MISREADING YOUR MARKET
The Schröder Saga is now the ultimate cautionary tale for NBA players. It’s discussed in rookie orientation programs. Agents use it as a hammer to convince clients to take guaranteed money. It underscores a brutal truth: in the NBA, leverage is fleeting, and security is everything.
The league’s financial landscape can change in an instant. A new Collective Bargaining Agreement, a shift in team building philosophy (away from traditional point guards), or simply an injury can vaporize a player’s market. Schröder bet that his market would expand. It violently contracted.
Luka’s comment, while harsh, is the kind of cold accountability that exists among peers. They all saw the decision. They all understand the business. They all know the risk. In Schröder’s case, the risk resulted in a historic loss. DonÄiÄ, the beneficiary of the ensuing chaos, is simply holding up a mirror.
As both men move forward Luka as a centerpiece of the league, Schröder as a veteran fighting for minutes that moment at half court will linger. It’s more than trash talk. It’s a monument to a single choice that echoes across years, a permanent “what if” made flesh and voiced by a rival who ended up living the better outcome.
For Dennis Schröder, “Shoulda signed that contract, baby” isn’t just a taunt. It’s the epitaph on his greatest mistake.
If you were in Schröder’s shoes in 2021, do you take the guaranteed $84 million from the Lakers, or bet on yourself for a potential $100 million+?