Lakers News: LeBron James Willing to Reduce Salary for High-Level Free Agent

The 20-time All-Star is now an unrestricted free agent, himself.

Apr 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves the ball against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second half in game three of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

20-time All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers combo forward LeBron James has opted out of his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 NBA season, which would be his record-tying 22nd in the league, and is slated to hit unrestricted free agency starting on Sunday at 3 p.m. PT.

Part of his thinking in doing so, surprisingly, stems from him wanting to help L.A. add roster pieces, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

"He is prioritizing a roster improvement," James' Klutch Points agent Rich Paul told McMenamin. "He's been adamant about exuding all efforts to improve the roster."

James is eligible to ink a three-season, $162 million maximum contract this summer. He remains one of the 20 or so best players in the league, despite being the NBA's oldest active player. Last season, the 6-foot-9 All-Star averaged 25.7 points on .540/.410/.750 shooting splits (that 41 percent three point mark, arriving on a decent-volume 5.1 triple tries a night, represents a career-best), 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 swipes and 0.5 rejections, while appearing in 71 games.

Should James take a bit of a shave on his salary, he could help Los Angeles open up a full $12.9 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which the team could use to sign a veteran talent. McMenamin floats former 10-time All-Star L.A. Clippers combo guard James Harden, a still-potent playmaker and scorer even at age 34, or former five-time All-Star Golden State Warriors shooting guard/small forward Klay Thompson as possible fits. Both are Los Angeles natives. Thompson's father, Mychal, won two titles with the Showtime Lakers in the 1980s and is currently a radio commentator for the team. Sources tell McMenamin that New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas is also seen as a possibility, though his addition would slide All-NBA L.A. center Anthony Davis down to power forward.

Per Paul, James will seek a full max if the Lakers can't sign one of these high-level veteran talents using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. James plans to sign his contract with the Lakers — who after all just drafted his son and signed his podcast co-host to be their head coach — prior to the start of Team USA's pre-Olympics training camp in July.

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