LeBron Pay Cut? Windhorst Explains Why Contract May Dictate Landing Spot amid Cavs, Lakers Rumors
While LeBron James hasn't confirmed if he is going to return for a 24th NBA season in 2026-27, the future Hall of Famer could be in a rare position where he isn't a lock to get a max contract as a free agent if he decides to keep playing.
On Thursday's episode of Get Up, ESPN's Brian Windhorst explained that James might be forced to take a pay cut if he wants to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers or potentially return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency:
"There's a realistic scenario. LeBron has two big decisions to make when the season is over whenever that is for the Lakers. One is, is he going to play another season? And he's made it very clear that he doesn't seem to know, and I believe that. The second thing is, if he's going to play for another season, then how much money is he willing to play for? Because the Lakers almost certainly are going to ask him to take a pay cut, potentially a significant one. Would he be comfortable doing that to help the team build out, similar to what Dirk Nowitzki did in Dallas at the end of his career? Or would he consider if he doesn't like the Lakers' plan and offer, going somewhere else? And if he wants to go somewhere else, Cleveland is there. There are several different ways to get him. They definitely have a team where he would fit in, depending on what they might do in the offseason, but they're not going to be able to pay him a huge amount of money. So, really this comes down to where his comfort level in doing that is, especially with his family based in LA and the Southwest with his son playing in Arizona and his other son playing for the Lakers."
James told reporters after Wednesday's game against the Cavs that it "very well could" have been his final appearance in Cleveland, but emphasized he hasn't made any decisions about his future.
Prior to the game, ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported the Cavaliers would "gladly welcome" James back if he wanted to play for them again.
The Lakers are set up to focus their attention around building the best possible roster around Luka Dončić. This was part of the divide that came out last summer when Rich Paul, James' agent, told ESPN's Shams Charania that they were monitoring the team's moves because James "wants to compete for a championship."
Even though nothing came of that situation, it did show James was aware he was no longer the top priority in Los Angeles.
Another complicating factor for the Lakers is Austin Reaves' contract. He can opt out of his current deal this summer and would be in line for a new contract worth up to $241 million over five years.
If Reaves ends up signing for the max, it would give the Lakers two players making roughly $100 million next season. They would only have four other players signed to guaranteed deals, so filling out a roster will be a test for general manager Rob Pelinka.
Cleveland already has several expensive contracts on its books next season. Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are all making more than $40 million in 2026-27. Jarrett Allen and De'Andre Hunter combined are owed nearly $53 million.
The only time James has signed for less than the max was in 2010 when he took a slight discount to join the Miami Heat.
Now in his age-41 season, James is no longer the same dynamic athlete he once was. There has been a lot of focus on the decline in his defensive ability that might hurt his free-agent value.
Even with some of those limitations on defense, James remains a very good offensive player. He is averaging 22.0 points on 50.2 percent shooting, 6.7 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game in 29 starts for the Lakers.
If James can accept a situation that might ask him to take on a smaller role than he is accustomed to, he could help a team compete for a title next season if he wants to keep playing.
