Wild speculation about LeBron James' future in the NBA has become an annual tradition. This year, it's not just about whether King James is retiring. The speculation also includes the added component of which team he'll be with. And the Lakers might consider keeping him for the right price.
James just completed his 23rd season in the NBA, making him the longest-tenured player in the history of the league. Before that, it was Vince Carter, who put in 22 seasons. Since 2018, James' team of choice has been the Lakers, as they were willing to pay him the big money he commanded.
That was then, and this is now. There's no question that James is playing great basketball for a 41-year-old man in his 23rd season. To be fair, there are not a lot of people to benchmark him against. At the same time, his game has changed with age, and he's not the same LeBron fans knew.
The Lakers are in the middle of a generational transition by trying to move from being James' team to being Luka Doncic's team. It's widely accepted that Doncic and Austin Reaves are the core the future Lakers will be built around. That leaves the question of what to do with James.
LeBron will do what LeBron wants to do
At this point, James has been circling retirement for at least five years. He's still playing well enough to continue hanging around, but not at the price he's been getting paid. His most recent contract with the Lakers was a two-year deal worth north of $100 million. Now, he's an unrestricted free agent.
Over the course of his eight seasons with the Lakers, they have paid James almost $275 million and only have one title to show for their investment. Given the slide in his game, it's hard to imagine them, or any other team for that matter, wanting to shell out that kind of money for the former king.
No one would blame the Lakers for signing him up for another season. James' game is nowhere near as dominant, but he's still playing better than a good chunk of the league. But the Lakers can't be paying him $50 million per season anymore. To put it bluntly, he's not worth that kind of money.
The Lakers need that payroll for Doncic, Reaves, and investing in a starting center who can actually play basketball. If James wants to stick around the league a couple of more seasons, on the Lakers or with another team, he has to accept that he does not command the premium salary he used to.
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