The King has spoken. Lakers superstar and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James is choosing to opt out of his $51.4M player option for the 2024-25 season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania on social media. The overwhelming expectation is James will return to the Lakers on a new max deal, Charania reports.
This is what everyone saw coming, as previously stated. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes on his social media platform, James can re-sign with the Lakers for a maximum of $162M over the next three years, which would carry him through his age-42 season. In addition, he is eligible for a coveted no-trade clause.
The only down side to bringing James back at the max is the Lakers’ team salary would be in first-apron territory. However, he may be willing to be flexible and take somewhat of a haircut, especially with his son on the roster.
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT Sports says the four-time MVP would not be opposed to accepting a lower salary to help the franchise access the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception $12.9M if there is a target that makes sense. Keith Smith of Spotrac on social media investigates what that final number might look like.
There has also been a bit of controversy over the past couple of day. The Lakers selected LeBron’s son, Bronny James, with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 draft on Thursday. Re-signing with the Lakers would allow for the elder James to play alongside his oldest son, something he has talking at length about in recent memory.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeBron has maintained an extraordinary level of play even through his age-39 season, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting a red hot 54.0% from the field and 41.0% from 3-point range in 71 games last season. His 71 games played last year was his highest regular season total since 2017-18 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and LeBron helped push the Lakers to the playoffs, where they fell in five games to the Denver Nuggets.
While the Lakers lost in the opening round, they were competitive and held their own against the reigning champs, having been outscored by a miniscule 11 points in the series. With new first-time coach J.J. Redick at the helm, Los Angeles seems energized to build on its core heading into next year.
LeBron’s spent the last six seasons of his career with Los Angeles, winning a title in 2019-20 and passing several landmark milestones while representing the purple-and-gold, including becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored, passing the captain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Lakers center Anthony Davis, who has played five of those six seasons with James in Los Angeles, said he has purposefully not put pressure on James regarding his decision this offseason. The two will pair up in the Paris Olympics this summer, as well.
“I’m just respecting his space,” Davis told ESPN this week. “I know we’ll be together all summer and I know if he decides to do something — whether stay with the Lakers, opt in or opt out and re-sign or opt out and choose a different path, I know he’ll tell me before he makes any [official] decision just because we have that relationship. So, I’m pretty sure I’ll know before anybody else besides, like, his family and Rich [Paul].”
