Lakers' Free Agency Outlook and Top Contract Decisions Following Trade Deadline
The Los Angeles Lakers could have an eventful 2024 NBA offseason.
And not just on the trade front.
Yes, that remains their most likely place to make a splash, since their dormant trade deadline means they'll now have as many as three-first round picks to part with in a deal. However, the Purple and Gold also have some pretty pressing matters to take care of in-house, like the player options held by two of their starters.
Let's dig into what the Lakers are looking at in free agency.
Salary Outlook
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L.A.'s finances are in such a spot that if this isn't a taxpaying team next season, something will have gone horribly wrong.
The Lakers are projected to be way over the cap line and into the luxury tax. The only way their cap number could come down is if a couple of key contributors opted out of their deals and headed elsewhere.
Both LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell hold player options for next season. While we'll dig deeper into their specific situations in a second, these two salaries—which total more than $70 million combined, per Spotrac—are the only big ones that could realistically come off the books.
That wouldn't do the Lakers any good, though, as they'd clearly be better next season with James and Russell than without them.
LeBron James' Player Option
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James will turn 40 years old a few months into the 2024-25 season. If he stays on his current contract, he'll collect a whopping $51.4 million for the campaign.
Getting that kind of coin at that age is virtually impossible for anyone else, but if they had the option, it'd almost certainly be a no-brainer to pick it up. For the seemingly ageless James, though, he may have some...well, options with this option. He keeps performing at an All-NBA level, and with no real signs of slowing down, he might be aiming to secure his NBA future beyond next season.
"I think LeBron is angling to sign a multi-year deal in the offseason with the Lakers that will be nine figures," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on First Take (h/t HoopsHype). "That will be even bigger than the deal he is on now. Now, whether or not he's able to finish that deal, whether or not the Lakers want to give him a three-year contract and pay him $60 million when he's 42 years old, that's a different discussion."
This could get a little tricky for James and the front office to figure out, but what's perhaps most important is his desire to stay in L.A. He may well decline his player option, but there are zero indications he would do so in search of a scenery change.
D'Angelo Russell's Player Option
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If Russell picked up his player option, his salary would bump up from $17.3 million to $18.7 million.
That feels like a decent figure for someone with severe limitations on defense and good-not-great offense that doesn't deliver consistently. Then again, he's been stacking up strong performances in such a way that he could reasonably have richer offers available to him.
Entering Wednesday night, his last 19 outings have yielded averages of 22.8 points and 6.9 assists. This scoring surge has been strengthened by an efficient 46.6/45.4/87.1 shooting slash, while the dimes look even better when juxtaposed against his 2.1 turnovers in his 36.4 minutes.
He has functioned like a difference-maker for the past month-plus, and if he can sustain this level into the postseason, he'll have a chance to beat that option number on the open market.
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