LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $97.1-million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, all but ensuring he will play out the twilight of his storied career in purple and gold despite the franchise’s recent struggles.
With the deal, the four-time NBA champion erases any looming concerns he may have been eyeing free agency next season and — for the moment — mutes the unrest that had crept in about trades, however unlikely, that would have seen him leave the franchise as part of a broader Lakers overhaul.
This season, James cannot be traded because the second year of the extension exceeds a five per cent raise. Beyond that immediate future, while players who agree to extensions — as opposed to new deals — are ineligible for no-trade clauses, the reported structure of his deal makes it likely James will remain in Los Angeles for as long as he wants to. In addition to the extension’s starting salary of $46.7 million, the agreement comes with a 15 per cent trade kicker, vastly restricting the possibility of a trade based on the deal’s value alone.
There is a chance the extension could become even more lucrative, too. Depending on how the salary cap increases, the deal could be worth up to $111 million, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, because of how the value of max contracts is calculated.
By signing the deal, James will have earned $532 million in guaranteed money throughout his career, making him the highest-earning player in NBA history. The title was previously held by Kevin Durant.
For Los Angeles, a team whose penchant for doling out big-money contracts in the name of chasing titles, the price tag is just the cost of securing its franchise cornerstone. And the deal itself signals a trend in how the Lakers approach deals for high-profile players who have added to the winning tradition in Los Angeles as they reach the end of their careers. In 2013, the Lakers signed a 35-year-old Kobe Bryant to a two-year, $48.5 million extension that ensured he would remain with the team he won five championships with — despite the daunting evidence he was no longer a player who could carry the team to anything resembling success.
That isn’t the case with James. Even as he approaches 38 years old, James continues to be one of the NBA’s most resonant players, able to impact the game at an all-world level when healthy.
James could make history before the extension even kicks in, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time points mark within striking distance, giving him the chance to add to his already unmatched resume by surpassing another Lakers great.
At his career scoring average of 27.1 points per game, barring injury, James would be poised to eclipse the 38,387-point plateau around mid-January. Even if he were to average the lowest per-game total of his career, 20.9 points, he would still be on pace to break the record in just 64 games played.
Still, while the financial incentive is unmistakable, and the allure of making more history while a Laker is ever-present, staying with Los Angeles — as it is currently constructed — effectively doubles as a concession that James will not be chasing a fifth NBA championship. With an aging and dysfunctional roster, the Lakers missed the playoffs in 2021-22 despite James averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists in the games he played.
The Lakers, though often a threat to meet with high-profile free agents during the off-season, are currently only positioned to have around $20 million in salary-cap space next summer. In the seasons that follow, their options are set to open up, as Russell Westbrook’s contract comes off the books, though the urgency — and stability — brought about by knowing James’ short-term future may drive the team to pursue meaningful changes before then.
