Los Angeles Lakers Re-Sign LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers made the official announcement late on Saturday night that LeBron James had signed a new contract. This was undoubtedly anticipated due to the widespread belief throughout the offseason that he would remain with the team, as reported on Thursday. Saturday’s declaration makes it official, however what is more relevant here are the subtleties of the agreement that James ended up marking.

Los Angeles Lakers Re-Sign LeBron James: Bobby Marks of ESPN claims that James will sign for approximately $101.35 million over the course of the two years of the contract, the second of which is subject to a player option. This is approximately $3 million less than his maximum, which was approximately $104 million. That matters because the Lakers will be able to avoid the dreaded second apron in terms of total team salary thanks to those savings. Marks claims that they now have approximately $45,000 in available space below that line.

The Lakers simply could not comply with the roster-building restrictions imposed by going above the second apron. The Lakers may be required to do so at some point during this season because teams above the second apron cannot combine salaries in trades. They lose admittance to the citizen mid-level special case. They also keep all of the restrictions that come with going above the first apron, like being able to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and trading more money than they need to send out.

Most importantly, avoiding a frozen draft pick by ducking the second apron. At the point when a group completes a season over the subsequent cover line, its first-round pick seven years after the fact becomes frozen. It can’t be traded until the team hasn’t gone over the line more than once for four more years. That pick immediately shifts to No. 1 if a team stays above the line for at least two of the next four seasons. 30 in the main round. The Lakers simply refused to work around this constraint. James has given up some money to assist them in avoiding it.

James was purportedly able to overlook more cash, maybe as much as $20 million, with the objective being to open up the non-citizen mid-level exemption or the capacity to sign-and-exchange for a major name. The catch was that only Klay Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas, and James Harden were on the list of players he was interested in. Thompson was a target for the Lakers, but he ended up signing with the Dallas Mavericks instead. Valanciunas and Solidify were off of the load up when their Thompson pursue finished. Since a significant upgrade was no longer available, James simply made the decision to accept a salary that was close to his maximum.

Los Angeles Lakers Re-Sign LeBron James: There are currently 15 players with guaranteed contracts with the Lakers, including Bronny James and James himself. This indicates that major shifts are unlikely for the time being. They have reportedly looked into trades involving their two available first-round picks, but nothing appears imminent at this time. To sign a free agent, they would need to clear a roster spot.

James is staying in Los Angeles on a contract that will pay him nearly the maximum, give him a no-trade clause, and give him a 15% trade kicker if he wants to move to another team and waive that clause. The Lakers can rest assured that they have avoided the second apron and secured the services of an all-time legend for another season, even if there are no further upgrades planned.