James’ options outside the Lakers
LeBron James’ next deal, and every contract option with the Lakers or another team
During All-Star Sunday in Indianapolis, James dismissed the notion that he is unhappy in Los Angeles, despite a second straight season competing for a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
“I am a Laker and I’m happy and been very happy being a Laker the last six years and hopefully it stays that way,” James said. “But I don’t have the answer to how long it is or which uniform I’ll be in. Hopefully [it] is with the Lakers. It’s a great organization, with so many greats. But we’ll see.”
But what happens if the Lakers fail to reach the first round for the second time in three seasons or do not get past the first round? Los Angeles is 34-29, 2.5 games behind the sixth-place Phoenix Suns.
The only playoff teams flush with cap space are Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Orlando, but that would require James relocating to a new city and a different roster for the sole purpose of chasing his fifth championship.
As ESPN’s Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported, Warriors owner Joe Lacob reached out to Buss before the deadline to express interest in acquiring James in a trade. The talks went nowhere because of James’ desire to remain with the Lakers.
Revisiting such a deal would be complicated for Golden State and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.
The Warriors have $174 million in salary next season, including $37 million in the non-guaranteed salaries of guard Chris Paul and center Kevon Looney. That figure does not include guard Klay Thompson, who will become a free agent this summer after making $43.2 million in 2023-24.
A sign-and-trade involving James and Thompson would hard cap Golden State at the $178.9 million first apron, making it difficult for L.A. to re-sign Thompson. James could opt-in to his contract and then work out a trade, but Golden State would not be allowed to send out aggregate contracts if James’ $51.4 million salary pushed the Warriors over the second apron.
The Knicks, however, have the financial flexibility below both aprons to trade for James without losing Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby.
New York has five players (Julius Randle, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic and Donte DiVincenzo) earning a salary between $11.5 and $30.3 million. They also have up to eight tradable first-rounders to include in a deal.
“During my free agency period in 2010, it was one of the teams that I looked at,” James said before the Lakers played at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 3. “So I’ve had that thought in my career.”
