Lakers looked into acquiring Eric Bledsoe before Dennis Schroder trade?

The Lakers looked into a trade for Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe prior to their agreed-upon deal for Dennis Schroder, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

The Lakers are giving up the 28th pick in Wednesday’s draft and guard Danny Green to the Thunder in return for Schroder, who could be the defending champion’s lead point guard or sixth man.

Bledsoe could have filled the same role for the Lakers, but he’s coming off a disappointing season and has multiple years left on his deal. Bledsoe will make nearly $17M next season and $18.1M in 2021-22. He has a non-guaranteed $19.4M for the 2022-23 season, the final year of his extension.

Milwaukee has been trying to shed Bledsoe’s contract in order to upgrade its roster after its disappointing playoff performance. Bledsoe averaged 14.9 points, his lowest since the 2012-13 campaign, and 5.4 assist in 61 regular-season starts, then was held to 11.7 points on 38.8 percent shooting during the playoffs.