Projecting LeBron James' Lakers Contract in NBA Free Agency After Rumored Opt-Out

Now that the Los Angeles Lakers have clarity on LeBron James' contract, their next step will be finding a deal to keep the future Hall-of-Famer in tow.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, James will opt out of his $51.4 million deal for the 2024-25 season.

Charania noted he is expected to remain with the Lakers on a new contract. He can sign a deal for up to three years and $162 million, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Depending on the size of his deal, this could be the third contract of at least $100 million that James has received in his career. The others were a six-year, $109.8 million deal when he joined the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010 and his original four-year, $153.3 million contract with the Lakers signed in July 2018.

Even though James is not known for taking discounts to help his team's salary cap, that appears to at least be in play this time. Chris Haynes of Turner Sports noted he's "considering" a deal that would allow the Lakers to obtain the full mid-level exception ($12.9 million) in free agency.

The Lakers also have the ability to use D'Angelo Russell, who told ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Friday he is opting in to his $18.7 million deal on Friday, in a potential trade to upgrade their roster.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted in the wake of Russell's decision that the Lakers were bumping up against the second apron even before they tried to retain Max Christie in restricted free agency.

Once a team goes into the second apron, they are only allowed to sign their own free agents and draft picks, add players on minimum contracts and are unable to aggregate multiple salaries in a trade for a player on a bigger contract

Spotrac estimates the Lakers currently have $127.3 million in salary commitments for next season, which doesn't include James since he isn't under contract.

If James were to negotiate a deal that would allow the Lakers to have the full mid-level, he would have to take an approximate discount of $10 million from his max.

Not counting his rookie contract, James has only signed for less than the max twice in his career. He took a slight discount when he joined the Heat to allow them to sign Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He didn't get a full max on his three-year, $99.9 million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2016.

James certainly doesn't need the money if he doesn't want it. He's already the highest-paid player in NBA history by career earnings. That doesn't even include his off-court endorsements and earnings that made him a billionaire in 2022.

If the ultimate goal for James is to give the Lakers their best chance to improve the roster this summer so they can compete for a title in a loaded Western Conference, a discount of some sort would be the best approach as he prepares to become a free agent.

If James doesn't think there's a path for the Lakers to make themselves appreciably better, he should just take the max offer from them and not think twice about it.