LeBron James is officially a free agent, but nobody around the league thinks he is leaving Los Angeles.
LeBron is opting out of his $51.4 million contract with the Lakers next season, which was expected and was officially broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Technically this makes LeBron a free agent, although as noted by multiple other reporters — and reinforced by league sources speaking to NBC Sports — no team thinks he’s leaving the Lakers. That said, the Philadelphia 76ers, a win-now team with cap space and looking for an elite wing, has to at least make the call.
Historically, LeBron has used free agency — and the threat of free agency — to get teams to make the roster and other changes he wants to see. This offseason, the Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham and replaced him with LeBron’s podcast partner, J.J. Redick, and drafted his son Bronny at No. 55.
LeBron would still like to see more talent added to the roster and thinks this can help open up a path.
With LeBron James opting out to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, the superstar is considering opening up a pathway for the team to obtain the full midlevel exception for the right targets, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/rzew2q2V9Q
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 29, 2024
The Lakers are also expected to be aggressive in looking for a trade, dangling D’Angelo Russell and his $18.7 million expiring contract plus a couple of first-round picks to see what that might return.
The Lakers have said they would like LeBron back on any contract he wants. The max they can offer him as a free agent is three years, $162 million (the over-38 rule limits length), and that can be with a no-trade clause (LeBron now meets the league criteria for that). Based on Haynes’ report about the mid-level exception, LeBron may be willing to let this hang out there well into July before signing, trying to free up space for the Lakers. However, historically, he has never taken less than the maximum he can get in a contract, and there’s no reason to think he will start now.
