After of the start of free agency, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James decided to decline his player option.
The expectation is not that he will leave the Lakers. In fact, it seems that him opting out was so he can help the franchise.
James’ agent Rich Paul came out and said that the 39-year-old is willing to take a pay cut if it can help the Lakers land an impact free agent. If they are unable to do so though, then James would likely sign a max deal with L.A.
Considering James hasn’t made a decision yet, he is keeping all options open and seeing what moves the Lakers make to improve first. Even Anthony Davis isn’t aware of what his co-star will be doing, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“I’m just respecting his space. 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 [agent] Rich [Paul].”
Davis and James are extremely close so there’s no doubt the latter will inform the former of his plans before finalizing anything.
Both stars have been doing their part trying to put pressure on the organization to make moves to improve in order to get back into championship contention. Now it will be up to Rob Pelinka and the front office to deliver or else James could potentially consider other options for himself.
With James and Davis set to report to Las Vegas for Team USA camp ahead of the Olympics next week, it likely won’t take long for a resolution on LeBron’s new contract.
Lakers have mutual interest with Klay Thompson
One free agent that the Lakers seem to be pursuing is Klay Thompson, who is now likely to leave the Golden State Warriors.
Thompson is one of the players James would be willing to take a pay cut for and there is believed to be mutual interest there, although the Dallas Mavericks are also in the mix.
If the Lakers are unable to land Thompson then Rob Pelinka and the front office will need to come up with other ways to improve the roster and satisfy their stars.
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