Arguably the best free agent on the market this offseason is 41 years of age as LeBron James is coming off another exceptional season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
It remains to be seen if James will even return for a 24th season in the NBA as he has made no commitments just yet. But if he does play, it seems that a return to the Lakers is the most likely scenario as the two sides begin negotiating a new contract.
“I think LeBron’s intention is to play and I think the focus right now is making a deal with the Lakers,” Brian Windhorst reported on ESPN Cleveland. “Right now, he’s allowed to negotiate with the Lakers and I believe they are negotiating, I believe they’re going back and forth. Free agency begins in 14 days and in the next 14 days, I think he’s gonna try to make a deal with the Lakers. The amount of the deal may depend on what else the Lakers are able to do in free agency and if in 14 days he is at an impasse with the Lakers and there is no deal there then I think other teams like the Cavs should stand to attention. But the league, I think, generally believes that the two sides are gonna come together.”
Considering the Lakers are the only contender with significant cap space, James’ options in free agency are limited unless he is willing to take a significant pay cut and play for the mid-level exception of around $15 million. That would open up the possibility for teams like the Golden State Warriors to make a run at the 22-time All-Star, although there currently is no expectation that he would be willing to do that.
In fact, James even recently declined comment when he was asked if he would be willing to take a pay cut to re-sign with the Lakers. According to reports, he will wait to see what the Lakers can do with their cap space before deciding how big of a pay cut he would be willing to take.
That makes sense as James has made it clear that he wants to compete for championships to finish his career. While it may seem like the Lakers are far away from contention, a couple of savvy moves this offseason while retaining James could have them right back in the mix.
Rich Paul has not yet spoken with LeBron James about future
All of the Lakers’ roster decisions will be made in the next few weeks as the draft and free agency approach. As of now though, James’ agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports revealed that he has not yet spoken to the superstar about his future plans.
James will mull over his future with him family and then likely work with Paul to find a new deal that makes sense with the Lakers before considering other options.
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