Entering his 20th year in the league, LeBron James signed an extension with the Los Angeles Lakers. Here’s an overview of the deal and its implications.
Extension Details
LeBron’s extension was originally announced to the public on August 17 in a Tweet by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. With this deal, LeBron earns $97.1 million over two years. He also surpasses Kevin Durant and becomes the highest-earning NBA player of all time: LeBron has $532 million in guaranteed money over his career.
The two-year extension includes a player option for the 2024-2025 season. Though LeBron would turn 40 that season, he has proven his ability to perform at an All Star level despite his age. The four-time NBA MVP had the best scoring season of his career with the Lakers last year, averaging 30.3 points per game, so it is feasible that he’ll still be an elite player in 2024.
Bronny James
As mentioned earlier, LeBron’s new contract gives him the option to become a free agent in the 2024-2025 season. This is the same year that his son, Bronny, will become draft eligible. LeBron has stated his intent to play with his son in the NBA.
Bronny, being in the class of 2023, has received offers from a number of D1 basketball programs. These include Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and USC. Though Bronny isn’t even a top 25 recruit for his class, he’s shown his ability to compete at an elite level, dropping 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists back in July at Nike’s Peach Jam.
It’s possible that we’ll see Bronny and LeBron suit up for the same NBA team in 2024. If this happened, it would be the first father-son duo in NBA history, as well as the first time a father and son were in the league concurrently.
Lakers Roster
Two key pieces to the Lakers’ roster are Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Back in December of 2020, Davis signed a five-year, $190 million contract with the Lakers. This means that both Davis’ and James’ could leave the Lakers for the 2025 season. Davis, an eight-time All Star, averaged 23.2 points per game last season, but only made 40 appearances due to various injuries.
Russell Westbrook recently decided to exercise his option to return to the Lakers this year. This option is part of a five year, $205 million deal made with the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2017. Westbrook, the 2017 NBA MVP had his worst scoring season since 2009 last year, with 18.5 points per game. But, the 33-year-old, nine-time All Star still has time left in his career, and could prove his worth in 2023.
Overall, it looks like the Lakers’ roster won’t change drastically in coming years, apart from Westbrook possibly departing. We’ll see if LeBron decides to exercise his 2024 player option and join Bronny, or if he will stay with the Lakers. Either way, Los Angeles will be home to the NBA legend for a least a couple more years.
Stay tuned for more breaking NBA content, including preseason moves, contract updates and more news from every team.
Featured image courtesy of Steven Ryan/Getty Images
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