James is willing to take less money to help the Lakers sign an impact player.
if it would help them land an impact player in free agency. According to Wojnarowski, James has told the Lakers if they can find an impact player he'd be willing to take less money to help facilitate their signing. If the four-time MVP took a pay cut it could Los Angeles the room to use the full mid-level exception, which would be worth about $13 million.
Wojnarowski said, "There’s a sense probably LeBron James starts to really take this year to year, but what he’s telling the Lakers is if they can find an impact player at the mid-level exception about $13 million whether that’s a Klay Thompson, a James Harden, a Jonas Valanciunas, maybe a couple others because this is not a star-laden free agency class, he will take less on his contract to allow the Lakers to add that exception into their payroll.
That's a huge development for the Lakers. This is a weaker free agent class, so the pickings are a bit slim. While Thompson and Harden would be flashing additions, a solid center like Valanciunas would allow Anthony Davis to play away from the hoop, his preferred situation. The Lakers have an interesting roster built around James and Davis. D'Angelo Russell has opted in to his contract, while they also have Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino and the recently-drafted Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. The franchise also really high on Max Christie and just gave him a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent.
Anyone the Lakers add via the mid-level exception would likely prompt other shuffling on the roster. But James has given them a huge opportunity to add an impact player by his willingness to take less money.Ryan Phillips is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. Ryan has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining the SI team in 2024.
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