The dust of James' contract renewal is the first in NBA history to break the 500 million mark. It is expected to be the catalyst for the Lakers to replace Irving with a first-round pick.

2022-08-18 14:06

The dust of James' contract renewal is the first in NBA history to break the 500 million mark. It is expected to be the catalyst for the Lakers to replace Irving with a first-round pick.


According to reports from major sports media, the giant LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers opened today and agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million max salary extension with the team, including player options for the final 2024-2025 season . At the same time, James also surpassed general Kevin Durant to become the player with the highest salary in NBA history of $532 million.


James , 37, has played a central role for the Lakers since joining in 2018, bearing the brunt and leading the team to victory. Although James could not achieve his goals in the first year of joining the Lakers due to the injury problems of the Lakers lineup, James later recruited star players such as Anthony Davis to join, and finally made a comeback in 2020 and led the Lakers to the 17th league championship. Championship goal.


However, the Lakers have been in a state of decline in the two seasons after winning the championship. James has almost missed most of the regular season after suffering from injuries. If it weren't for the low injury attendance, he is likely to surpass last season. League center legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the career scoring leader. If Davis and James, the Lakers' main offensive players, suffered injuries last season, they might still be able to fight for a chance to enter the playoffs and compete for a championship.


Despite the poor season the Lakers endured last season, newly acquired star Russell Westbrook was a surprise. However, the 37-year-old James still took on the task of scoring last season, taking the lead and using his excellent organizational skills to lead his teammates to improve offensive efficiency and opportunities. And he also set his career second-highest scoring average of 30.3 points last season, leading other active players. His performance is not limited by age at all, and he has become a model of the league and an indispensable important for the Lakers. figure. So it is understandable that the Lakers did not hesitate to free up a lot of salary space in exchange for the 18-time All-Star general.


The current James' new contract extension matches Davis' most recent extension with the Lakers, allowing both parties to leave the Lakers in 2024 or obtain a new contract. This also means that the Lakers may provide James with a new max-salary contract in 2024, when James is approaching 40 years old, and he will most likely end his league career with the Lakers. The Lakers will also try to get James' only request, 17-year-old eldest son Bronny, to join the Lakers father-son team.


As for whether the Lakers will let Davis, who is full of injury problems, take over the leadership of James, the prospect of leading the Lakers in the future remains to be seen, but with the Lakers renewing James with a lot of money, the team is expected to have no more salary space. The only way to introduce star generals is to bring in new players through transactions. This may push the Lakers to reluctantly sell their future first-round picks in exchange for the services of Brooklyn Nets scoring general Kyrie Irving, and once again compete with former teammate James to lead the Lakers back to the championship-level lineup.