🚨BREAKING: The Lakers are still haunted by a 2020 trade that sent Danny Green and Jaden McDaniels’ rights to OKC for Dennis Schroder. McDaniels has since become a defensive star and elite shooter, averaging 18.6 points on 54% from deep — exactly what LA needs now. 👇

🚨 BREAKING: The Lakers Are Still Haunted by a 2020 Trade That Sent Danny Green and Jaden McDaniels’ Rights to OKC for Dennis Schröder — A Mistake That Looks Worse Every Year

Every franchise has “the one that got away.”
For the Los Angeles Lakers, that ghost has a name — Jaden McDaniels.

It has been four years since the Lakers made what looked like a minor draft-night move in 2020: sending Danny Green and the rights to the 28th pick (McDaniels) to Oklahoma City for Dennis Schröder. At the time, it was sold as a win-now swap — a “championship push” trade fresh off LA’s 17th title in the Orlando bubble.

But today, the numbers — and reality — paint a painful picture.

Jaden McDaniels has blossomed into the exact type of player the Lakers desperately need in 2025:
A long, switchable, 6’10 two-way wing averaging 18.6 points per game on an outrageous 54% from three, while guarding the league’s toughest scorers every night.

And the Lakers gave him away before he ever put on the jersey.

A Trade That Looked Harmless — Until It Wasn’t

Back in November 2020, the move didn’t raise alarms. Dennis Schröder was coming off a strong Sixth Man of the Year campaign in Oklahoma City, averaging:

• 18.9 points

• 38.5% from three

• Playoff experience

• High-end perimeter defense

He looked like the perfect upgrade next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis — a starter-level guard who could relieve ball-handling pressure and attack second units.

But what the Lakers didn’t realize was that in giving up a late-first-round pick, they weren’t just trading away another project. They were trading away a future cornerstone wing — the one thing every modern NBA contender covets.

They were trading away the type of player you only draft every few years.
They were trading away exactly what they are missing right now.

How the Lakers’ Vision Fell Apart

Schröder proved useful in stretches, but never fit the way the Lakers hoped. His style didn’t fully complement LeBron. His outside shooting wasn’t reliable enough. His defensive impact came and went. And the relationship between the front office and his camp famously soured when he turned down an $84 million extension.

He left for nothing.

Meanwhile, the other half of the trade — the overlooked rookie with the 7-foot-plus wingspan — quietly built himself into a defensive force.

The Lakers’ window didn’t just narrow.
They unknowingly helped strengthen another Western Conference threat.

Jaden McDaniels: The Star LA Let Slip Away

At 6’10 with fluid mobility and guard-level lateral quickness, Jaden McDaniels developed into one of the NBA’s premier perimeter stoppers. But what shocked the league — and now tortures Lakers fans — was his offensive leap:

• 18.6 points per game

• 54% from three (league-leading)

• Elite catch-and-shoot sniper

• Deadly corner specialist

• Reliable attacker off closeouts

• Switchable defender capable of guarding 1–5

McDaniels isn’t just a good wing.
He’s the prototype of the modern NBA.

The exact player every team wants.
The exact player LeBron thrives next to.
The exact player Luka Dončić could weaponize.
The exact player the Lakers never replaced.

Imagine plugging McDaniels into today’s Lakers roster — next to Luka, LeBron, AD, and Austin Reaves. He would be the perfect glue piece, the perfect defensive anchor, the perfect floor-spacer.

Instead, the Lakers watch him dominate for another franchise while they search for a player with his exact skillset.

How This One Mistake Still Shapes the Lakers’ Future

The irony? The Lakers have spent the last four seasons trying to find what they accidentally gave away:

• Trevor Ariza experiments

• Stanley Johnson flashes

• Rui Hachimura development

• Taurean Prince role minutes

• Jarred Vanderbilt defense

• Cam Reddish rebuilding projects

• Max Christie upside bets

And none of them have given LA what McDaniels provides nightly:
Size, shooting, defense, versatility, durability, and star-level upside.

He’s not just a role player — he’s a franchise wing.
A 6’10 Klay Thompson-type defender with a more dynamic body and elite efficiency.

There is no version of modern NBA basketball where this archetype is not essential.

The Lakers’ Biggest Long-Term Regret

Front offices will never admit their misses publicly.
But inside the league, everyone knows:
Jaden McDaniels is one of the Lakers’ biggest draft mistakes of the last decade.

Not because they mis-scouted him.
But because they never got the chance to scout him at all — they traded the pick before he even arrived.

Team insiders say that if the Lakers could redo the 2020 offseason, they would keep the pick, keep the defensive youth pipeline, and avoid short-term rentals like Schröder, Montrezl Harrell, and others.

Instead, the Lakers doubled down on “win now,” and it cost them a long-term wing that would have fit seamlessly next to LeBron then… and Luka now.

How McDaniels Would Fit the Current Lakers

Imagine the Lakers today with:

Luka Dončić — Austin Reaves — Jaden McDaniels — LeBron James — Anthony Davis

That is a championship lineup.
Length, shooting, switchability, spacing — everything the modern game demands.

McDaniels would be:

• The primary defender on opposing stars

• A 54% three-point threat who opens the floor

• A transition weapon

• A safety valve scoring option

• A player who hides defensive weaknesses

• A low-maintenance, high-impact role star

It would be one of the most balanced starting fives in the league.

Instead, the Lakers rotate through wings desperately trying to find someone who can do even half of what McDaniels brings every night.

The Ghost of 2020 Still Lingers

Most trades fade away with time.
This one didn’t.

It grew louder.
Stronger.
More painful.
Each season, each jump McDaniels makes, each shooting leap he takes — the what-ifs echo louder inside the Lakers organization.

This is not to blame Dennis Schröder.
He was a professional, worked hard, and gave LA quality minutes.

But the cost — the long-term cost — is what haunts the franchise today.

Because McDaniels isn’t some role player who turned decent.
He’s a legitimate two-way star in the making.

And the Lakers traded him away before they even knew what they had.

The Bottom Line

The 2020 trade for Dennis Schröder wasn’t just a roster move.

It was a fork in the road.

One path led to a long-term wing the Lakers would kill to have today — one of the best young shooters and defenders in the league.

The other path, the one they chose, led to a short-term guard who left the team after one year.

The Lakers didn’t just lose Jaden McDaniels.
They lost the exact missing piece they’re still searching for in 2025.

A mistake that grows more painful every time McDaniels hits another three.
Another 20-point night.
Another lockdown defensive game.

The Lakers didn’t just trade a draft pick.
They traded a future star.

And today, they’re still haunted by it.