LeBron James’ new contract with Lakers gets major update

After opting out of his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season, leading to speculation that he could entertain other offers from rival teams, LeBron has come to an agreement on what was originally reported to be a two-year, $104 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But now, it looks like LeBron will be signing a slightly smaller deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic:

“LeBron James‘ final two-year deal total, per sources: $101.355 million – almost $3M less than his $104M max, placing Lakers below second apron.”

That $3 million difference places the Lakers under the second apron, which will have a major impact on the team potentially working out offseason deals. As a first apron team they can’t take back more salary than they send out. But they avoid being a second apron team which would mean that they can’t combine salaries in a trade.

It’s also worth noting that James’ new deal with the Lakers has some other perks, also per Charania of The Athletic:

“Along with player option and no-trade clause, James’ contract also includes a 15 percent trade kicker, sources said.”

James has played a total of 21 seasons in the NBA. Now set to return for the 2024-25 season, LeBron will become just the second player to ever play 22 seasons in the league, joining recent Hall of Famer Vince Carter. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has expressed a desire to play for at least two more years, which would make his years played in the league equal to that of his iconic No. 23 jersey he has worn throughout his career.

LeBron James and Lakers still looking for help after DeRozan joins Kings

The Sacramento Kings made a big offseason addition on Saturday, as they agreed to terms with DeMar DeRozan in NBA free agency. In order to clear the required cap space to add DeRozan, the Kings will execute a sign-and-trade deal. DeRozan will give the Kings another scoring threat alongside De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

Following the initial news of the agreement, it was revealed that the Kings, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs will all be involved in the sign-and-trade deal sending DeRozan to the Kings as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The general framework of the deal will include DeRozan going to the Kings, Harrison Barnes going to the Spurs and Chris Duarte along with two second round picks going to the Bulls. The Bulls will also receive cash while the Spurs receive a 2032 second round pick swap from the Kings.

That leaves the Lakers without another offseason target. So far the team has been linked to Paul George, Jonas Valanciunas, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, Buddy Hield, and DeRozan, but come up empty so far.

It remains to be seen what the Lakers are going to do, but at least James gave them a little bit of flexibility in their pursuit of an upgraded roster.