LeBron James willing to take less than max contract, open up full MLE for Lakers

Ahead of signing likely his last contract in the NBA, LeBron James looks set to really help out the Lakers. After LeBron opted out of his contract earlier on Saturday, his agent, Rich Paul, spoke to Dave McMenamin of ESPN and revealed that he is open to taking a discount on his next deal to open up the full mid-level exception for the Lakers.

If LA cannot find an impact player to sign for the full MLE that would be created by James taking a paycut, James will seek the max.

 There can only be so much patience on James' part: Team USA camp begins a week from today in Las Vegas and he needs a deal before taking the court https://t.co/lSkfup7YQJ
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 29, 2024 

In his article, McMenamin elaborated that players who fit this archetype would be quality veterans with something to prove, like Jonas Valančiūnas or a shooter like Klay Thompson, who appears to be on his way out of Golden State.

  The type of player that James would be willing to make a financial sacrifice for would be an established veteran playmaker like James Harden or Klay Thompson, or an established big man to play alongside Anthony Davis — like Jonas Valančiūnas, sources told ESPN.

LeBron has consistently taken the max throughout his career, except on his first contract with the Miami Heat in 2010. Since then, he’s taken the max and no team associated with the King has ever blinked. Even now, the Lakers were reportedly eager to re-sign LeBron at the max.

If he takes less money, however, it opens up the chance to sign a player on the full mid-level exception, which is approximately $12.9 million.

That kind of salary could land a quality starter and put the Lakers back into contention in the Western Conference.

This is the kind of scenario that was unfathomable just a week ago, when it seemed inevitable that LeBron would take the max and the Lakers wouldn’t have the cap space to acquire any potential free agents on the market.

LeBron is more than willing to take the max and with the Team USA camp and his son likely playing in Summer League, if he’s still a free agent, he’ll have to deal with a media circus and this contract situation will undoubtedly create tension.

There’s no need for that if he wants to remain a Laker.

So, if vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has a deal he can get done, then now is the time to do it and show that he can help build a contender here in Los Angeles.