NBA free agency begins on June 30 (6 p.m. ET), and the Los Angeles Lakers remain unsure if forward LeBron James is planning to return to Tinseltown.
James, 41, is set to become a free agent this offseason. He and the Lakers reportedly remain in contact but aren’t discussing hard numbers.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne provides more on contract negotiations between LeBron James, Lakers
“L.A. is the first team he can talk to because he’s their own free agent. And my understanding is they had initial conversations with LeBron James’ representatives, but he has not even fully committed to returning next year in those conversations. The conversations were described to me as, ‘We’re keeping in touch,'” Shelburne said Sunday on “SportsCenter” (h/t Bleacher Report’s Doric Sam). “OK? So there’s no commitment to even returning or salary figures being discussed. I think that’s been interpreted as something like, ‘LeBron is still assessing his options.’ Whether that is retirement or whether that is other teams. And if there are other teams that he’s looking at, what does that money look like?”
James made $52.6M in base salary this past season. Expect L.A. to want him to take a pay cut to create more financial breathing room, which it can use to build around star guard Luka Doncic. “The King” could refuse to do so after making his 22nd All-Star Game last season.
“Somebody cautioned me,” Shelburne said. “I think one of the biggest ways you can frame this if he’s back in L.A., he spoke at the end about, there’s a story that Dave McMenamin wrote about how he doesn’t feel respected necessarily for some of the sacrifices he made as the ‘third player’ here in L.A. behind Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, how would he swallow any kind of pay cut? Even if it’s more than any other team could give him. Even if it’s $30M, well, that’s still $22M less than he made last year, and I think that’s really what they’re trying to weigh.”
James may want to remain in L.A. for at least one more season to try to win his fifth championship with Doncic. That said, if he rejects a pay cut and begins exploring other options in free agency, he will attract multiple suitors.
Even as he nears the end of his career, James remains one of the best players in the league, making him an enticing one-year rental for championship contenders (Cleveland Cavaliers). He ranked 26th in the NBA in scoring (20.9 points per game), seventh in assists (7.2) and 28th in field-goal percentage (51.5 percent) last season.
James will likely play next season, but it may not be for the Lakers, especially if they continue to make little progress in contract negotiations.
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