How much money would LeBron James give up in free agency? The answer is apparently not that much.
While there has been talk about James possibly giving up money in free agency to allow a team to build out the rest of the roster, that will reportedly not be the case. Longtime Lakers reporter Jovan Buha indicated that James expects to be paid what he is worth, which would still be a significant number.
“I don’t know what he expects if I’m being completely honest here, but I think he expects to be paid close to what he is worth,” Buha said on the “Around the Beat” podcast. “He was an all-star last year. Once he became the number one option, he went back to putting up number one option-level numbers. He was the best player on a team that won a first-round playoff series. You could argue he’s worth 35, 40, 45 million based on the season he just had. So I think the expectation will probably be somewhere in line with that.
“Now, can the Lakers afford to pay that and improve the roster? Probably not. So that’s where you run into this, where is the sweet spot of a number that LeBron is not offended or disrespected by, but it’s also low enough where the Lakers still have the flexibility to improve the roster.”
There had been some talk of James taking a minimum contract next season, but that always seemed fanciful. Based on this, however, even a modest discount appears to be out of the question. One can understand why considering he played at a high level last season and does not have a ton of incentive to take a pay cut.
Where James will play remains an open question. Presumably, he would want to play for a contender, and that contender would have to be able to afford him and put a quality team around him. That might not leave him with a lot of options.
