On June 30, Lakers superstar James has decided to jump out of his final year, $51.4 million contract, and he will become a full free agent. Next, James will most likely complete a contract extension with the Lakers, but the contract extension period has not been determined. The Lakers are willing to offer James a three-year max contract, but James is willing to bring in reinforcements for the Lakers to reduce his salary. The Warriors have reportedly decided to part ways with Thompson, with the Lakers being one of the teams chasing Thompson.
The Lakers have made a lot of efforts to keep James, and they have hired Redick, whom James admires, as their head coach, even though Redick has no previous coaching experience. At the same time, the Lakers also selected James' eldest son Bronny in the draft, and even though many people think Bronny's talent is mediocre, James has always wanted to play alongside Bronny.
James has one year left on his contract with the Lakers. Previously, many people predicted that James would jump out of his contract and would most likely complete a contract extension with the Lakers. The Lakers have made it clear that they will offer James a three-year, $162 million max contract. Now, James has decided to officially jump out of his contract and is willing to take a pay cut to renew his contract with the Lakers, which he did so so that the Lakers have more salary space to bring in reinforcements. At present, players such as Thompson, George, and Harden are all targets that the Lakers can chase, among which Thompson is the supergiant player that the Lakers most hope to introduce.
Thompson has been in talks with the Warriors about a contract extension since last year, but the two sides have been unable to make a breakthrough. Thompson didn't perform well last season, and he lost his starting spot at one point. After the end of last season, although Curry, Green, coach Kerr and others publicly expressed their hope that the team would renew Thompson's contract, the team management was unwilling to provide a maximum salary, which is obviously a fact that Thompson cannot accept. The Warriors have reportedly decided to forego Thompson's contract extension. If this finally becomes a reality, then the dynasty of the Warriors will disintegrate.
In fact, James wanted to join forces with Thompson a few years ago. James' style of play requires enough shooters around him, and Thompson's characteristics are undoubtedly a good fit for that need. Even if Thompson isn't in his prime, he's still at least a top-tier killer. If the Lakers can bring in Thompson, then their competitiveness will be greatly improved.
James' agent, Rich Paul, said that if the Lakers can successfully bring in a superstar, then James is willing to take a salary cut to help the team achieve its goals. But if the Lakers can't do that, then James will complete a max contract extension with the Lakers.
Text/Beiqing Sports Song Xiang