LeBron James Reportedly Not Expected to Take Pay Cut on New Lakers Contract in NBA FA
If Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James returns to play next season, it reportedly won't be for a discount.
According to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the 40-year-old is not expected to take a pay cut to accommodate the Lakers like he did last offseason when he took about $2.7 million less in order to help the team stay under the second salary apron.
James has a $52.6 million player option in his contract for next season after earning about $48.7 million this season.
After the Minnesota Timberwolves knocked the Lakers out of the first round of the playoffs with a 103-96 win in Game 5 on Wednesday, the four-time NBA champion was noncommittal about his playing future.
James told reporters he was unsure how much longer he would continue to play, if at all:
"I don't know. I don't have an answer to that. Something I'll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don't know the answer to that right now, to be honest. So we'll see."
On Thursday, ESPN's Shams Charania appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and said there is "no expectation" for James to retire, adding that his "understanding" is he will play at least one more season:
Despite being the oldest player in the NBA, LeBron was still among the best this season, averaging 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game over 70 appearances.
The NBA's all-time leading scorer had his lowest scoring output since his rookie season in 2003-04, but he still impacted the game in myriad ways and helped L.A. seize the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record.
He was undoubtedly aided by the acquisition of superstar guard Luka Dončić, who gave James the type of ball-handling and playmaking support he hadn't had since teaming with Kyrie Irving while with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Perhaps most importantly and impressively, James reached the 70 games played mark for the second consecutive season after playing in fewer than 70 for five straight years from 2018-19 through 2022-23.
Most players are long retired by James' age, but he is still playing at an elite level, and it feels like he is still capable of being a top player on a championship team.
Assuming James plays next season, the Lakers are set to return their core of LeBron, Luka, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, although there is no doubt they need to add to the frontcourt after getting dominated in the paint by Minnesota.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka acknowledged that fact Thursday, telling Jovan Buha of The Athletic that adding size is one of his "primary goals" this coming offseason.
It doesn't sound as though James is going to take less money in order to facilitate that type of move, but if Pelinka can still make it happen, the Lakers could be a title contender with LeBron and Dončić leading the way.
